MINNEAPOLIS — In the span of three pitches Saturday afternoon, Chris Bassitt allowed two majestic fly balls to centre field, Daulton Varsho came close to making a pair of spectacular catches and the game turned in favour of the Minnesota Twins.
Until then, the Blue Jays had been well-positioned to win consecutive games for the first time in two weeks. Instead, the game started tilting toward the Twins and —despite a compelling late rally — the Blue Jays fell to 27-26 on the season with a tough 9-7 loss.
With one on and nobody out in the fifth inning, Willi Castro provided Varsho with his first major test of the day. The Minnesota third baseman hit a ball 406 feet to straightaway centre field, and Varsho sprinted back to put himself in position to make a highlight reel catch at the fence roughly 407 feet away.
But while Varsho did reach up and touch the ball, he was unable to grab it. Worse still, by making contact with the ball, he nudged it over the fence for a home run. Yet if he was counting on any time to catch his breath or gather his thoughts, he would soon be disappointed.
A mere two pitches later, right fielder Matt Wallner squared up another Bassitt offering, hitting a 1-0 pitch 409 feet just to the left of centre. This one needed no assistance leaving the yard, but Varsho made a tremendous effort to scale the wall and reach for the baseball in an effort to pull it back. Again he got his glove on it. Again, he just missed.
In those moments, the game turned. Either would have been a sensational catch, but once Varsho missed both the Twins were well positioned to even the series, setting up a decisive third game Sunday. A ninth-inning homer from Varsho made the score closer, and a subsequent rally made things interesting late, but too much damage had already been done.
Granted, Varsho wouldn’t have even been playing centre were it not for the lower back discomfort that forced Kevin Kiermaier to the bench in the third inning. After making a pair of max effort throws early in the game, Kiermaier appeared uncomfortable and then exited in place of Cavan Biggio, who’d later homer.
Bo Bichette also homered for the Blue Jays, going deep for the second consecutive day while also adding a triple. But on a day Bassitt struggled, seven runs weren’t enough.
The right-hander allowed seven earned runs over four-plus innings Saturday, allowing nine hits while striking out five and walking two. Later, Anthony Bass would continue trending in the right direction with two perfect innings of relief work.
Notably, Bassitt was pitching to Tyler Heineman, the backup catcher who was activated Friday when Danny Jansen hit the injured list.
By starting Heineman, the Blue Jays were able to give Alejandro Kirk a partial day off, but the 2022 all-star did spend some time behind the plate after a seventh-inning pinch-hit appearance. That marks four consecutive days catching for Kirk with a fifth likely Sunday after maxing out at three straight days catching last year.
Regardless, the Blue Jays were outplayed. This game was certainly closer than the score would suggest, but the complete performances that helped the Blue Jays start the season strong continue to elude them right now.
