TORONTO – In the span of 53 seconds Wednesday evening, home runs on consecutive pitches gave the Blue Jays a narrow lead and the chance to end a challenging road trip with a comeback win. It didn’t take much longer than that for the Blue Jays’ bullpen to blow it.
With that, a three-city road trip that began with high hopes ended with yet another devastating loss and the Blue Jays will return home to Toronto on the fringes of the wild card race while they manage some significant injuries and attempt to navigate the late innings without enough relievers deserving of trust.
The road trip started well enough with wins in two of the first three games against the Angels. But a loss in the series finale in Anaheim resulted in a series split, and things would only get worse in Seattle.
Not only did the Blue Jays lose two of three to the Mariners, they lost George Springer to an injury the team initially hoped might be minor. Again, though, things got worse. A Grade 1 left knee sprain forced Springer to the injured list for an undetermined period of time and the Blue Jays lost the opener at Nationals Park.
Still, they had a chance to return home on a winning note. Thanks to Corey Dickerson, who tied the game 4-4 with a two-run home run in the top of the seventh inning, and Marcus Semien, who was circling the bases less than a minute later while a stunned Ryne Harper looked on, the Blue Jays were able to hand their bullpen a lead late in the game.
But Brad Hand immediately allowed two home runs as the Nationals scored four in the seventh on their way to an 8-5 win and a two-game series sweep over Toronto. As if to reinforce just how completely the Blue Jays lost the Hand trade, Riley Adams, the 25-year-old catcher who went to Washington in the deadline deal for the left-hander, collected two more hits after homering against his former team Tuesday.
All in all an awful way to end a frustrating 3-6 trip. Not only are the Blue Jays a worse team (no Springer), they have a worse record (63-56) and less time remaining to make up ground (43 games remain after Wednesday). Under those circumstances, their playoff odds (21.8 per cent entering play Wednesday, according to FanGraphs) are dropping at an uncomfortably quick pace.
Of course there’s still some time for the Blue Jays to make a run. They have a deep rotation, including Jose Berrios, who pitched five strong innings of two-run baseball Wednesday. And even without Springer, their lineup is powerful, as evidenced by the four home runs they hit. Teoscar Hernandez hit the first of the day and the Blue Jays would later get home runs from Dickerson and Semien, who hit two.
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To deny the potential for further hot streaks would be reactive rather than rational. But as Wednesday’s loss reminded anyone watching, there’s just not enough trustworthy relief pitching on this staff right now. Activating Tim Mayza helps in that regard, as does parting ways with Rafael Dolis, whose command issues cost him his roster spot before the game, but season-long issues can’t be reversed with one move.
More encouraging for the Blue Jays was the big-league debut of Kevin Smith, the 25-year-old infield prospect who batted .286/.371/.576 with 19 home runs at triple-A before striking out in his big-league debut Wednesday. Like the recently-promoted Otto Lopez, Smith has the versatility to play both the infield and outfield if needed.
“He earned his way here and now he’s going to get a chance to play in the big leagues,” manager Charlie Montoyo said before the game. “That’s pretty cool for anybody … he’s going to get a chance to play.”
By Wednesday night the Blue Jays will be back in Toronto with an off day to re-set before the Detroit Tigers arrive for a three-game weekend series. It’s another opportunity against a far lesser team, only this time the Blue Jays aren’t quite as well positioned to take advantage of it.
