TORONTO — There was an unmistakable buzz at Rogers Centre on Friday afternoon. The Toronto Blue Jays returned home following an eight-game road trip with a few new faces in the fold, and many of them could be seen adjusting to their new surroundings.
Reliever Louis Varland sat in the dugout answering questions from the media while first baseman Ty France was taking ground balls alongside new teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr. A short while later, right-hander Shane Bieber was throwing a bullpen session in front of pitching coach Pete Walker.
“To come to a team with so much momentum right now is exciting, it’s invigorating,” Bieber said.
The Blue Jays will have to wait a little longer to see the former Cy Young winner — acquired from the Cleveland Guardians for pitching prospect Khal Stephen — on a major-league mound as he’s slated for a rehab outing on Sunday in Buffalo. However, his arrival certainly underscored the feeling around the club right now.
The 41,492 in attendance for Friday night’s game against the Kansas City Royals contributed to the buzz in the building, cheering loudly from the first pitch. Unfortunately for them and the home team, though, all this energy didn’t translate to a victory.
The Royals launched two pivotal home runs off Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman while mound counterpart Michael Wacha twirled a gem en route to Kansas City’s 9-3 win in the opener of a three-game set. The loss marked the Blue Jays’ fifth in their last six games and dropped their record to 64-47.
The Blue Jays got out to an early lead in the first inning when Guerrero Jr. launched a 1-1 sinker from Wacha into the second deck in left field. The solo shot, Guerrero Jr.’s 16th homer of the season, left his bat at an exit velocity of 113.9 m.p.h. but that was the only real damage against Wacha.
The veteran right-hander was in total control and kept Blue Jays hitters off balance with his six pitches. He allowed just three hits while walking none and striking out five over his eight innings in what was his longest outing of the season.
Addison Barger smoked a two-run homer in the ninth inning against Royals reliever Thomas Hatch, but the game was essentially over by then.
The Blue Jays’ lineup was without George Springer, who was placed on the seven-day injured list on Friday afternoon due to concussion symptoms. The outfielder is “feeling better every single day, but just quite didn’t really check every single box,” said manager John Schneider. Catcher Alejandro Kirk, also on the concussion list, collected one hit in three at-bats while catching seven innings for the triple-A Buffalo Bisons on Friday and could rejoin the big-league club on Sunday.
Gausman, meanwhile, wasn’t nearly as effective as Wacha.
The Royals responded to Guerrero Jr.’s homer in the top of the second when Mikael Garcia singled and was driven home on Mike Yastrzemski’s two-run shot into the right field bullpen. The homer, on a 2-2 splitter Gausman left in the middle of the zone, came during Yastrzemski’s first at-bat with the Royals after being dealt to the team from the Giants ahead of Thursday’s deadline.
Kansas City kept the pressure on in the third frame with more hard contact as No. 9 hitter Kyle Isbel ripped a fastball from Gausman 106.8 m.p.h. into right field, Jonathan India followed with a double into the right-centre field gap and Bobby Witt Jr. launched an inside splitter into the second deck in left field at 108.2 m.p.h. for a three-run home run.
In total, Gausman allowed five runs on six hits over six innings, walking none and striking out five.
