PHILADELPHIA — With a three-run lead and six outs to go, the Blue Jays were positioned well entering the bottom of the eighth inning on Wednesday night.
Tim Mayza had just struck out Bryce Harper with the bases loaded to escape a seventh-inning jam and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had responded with a no-doubt, three-run homer. With their best relievers rested and two innings to go, the Blue Jays were in a good spot.
But Yimi Garcia immediately allowed three runs and Matt Vierling would later walk off Adam Cimber with his fifth hit of the night as the Phillies beat the Blue Jays 4-3 in a 10-inning game that took four hours and eight minutes to complete. A strong start from Kevin Gausman went to waste and a wild series at Citizens Bank Park ended in disappointment for the Blue Jays.
“Just a tough night,” interim Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “You always feel good with a three-run lead and the back-end of our bullpen. It didn’t work out tonight.”
Granted, the Blue Jays’ bullpen has been better over the last couple of months, with closer Jordan Romano in particular offering remarkable consistency. But he has now blown two straight saves dating back to Sunday’s series finale against Baltimore. And while Cimber entered with a ghost runner already on second, he was unable to escape.
Anthony Bass, meanwhile, did not pitch at all, but Schneider said the right-hander was available. The Blue Jays simply preferred other relievers to Bass, who last pitched Friday against the Orioles. If nothing else, the timing of this bullpen slump is coming at an inopportune moment, given the importance of the games ahead.
“We rely on those guys a lot,” Gausman said. “It’s going to happen. It’s baseball. This time of year, you don’t want to think about it too much … flush it and move on.”
Earlier, Guerrero Jr. looked to have given the Blue Jays all the offence they’d need. With runners on the corners and none out in the top of the eighth inning of a scoreless game, Guerrero Jr. crushed a 99 m.p.h. pitch from Seranthony Dominguez 429 feet into the left field seats for his 30th homer of the season.
Those power numbers are perhaps easier to overlook than they should be. By hitting 48 homers last year, Guerrero Jr. showed he’s capable of more. This year, that potential hasn’t been fulfilled.
At the same time, he entered play Wednesday with a 134 OPS+, which means he’s 34 per cent better than league average at the plate when taking into account era and ballpark. Among the hitters with a lifetime OPS+ of 134: Mookie Betts, Prince Fielder and Fred McGriff. This performance doesn’t match what Guerrero Jr. accomplished last year, but it still puts him among the game’s top offensive players.
As Schneider said: “Big at-bat for Vladdy.”
Meanwhile, Gausman allowed just five singles while walking two and striking out eight against a tough Phillies lineup. His stuff was lively, with a fastball that topped out at 98.4 m.p.h. and a splitter that generated 11 swings and misses. Plus, he worked smoothly with Alejandro Kirk, who returned to his position behind the plate after left hip soreness led to an eight-day break from catching.
Thanks to a Rays loss, the Blue Jays stayed even with Tampa Bay, but the Yankees swept the Pirates, meaning the Blue Jays fall to 6.5 games back in the AL East. At this point every Yankees win pushes the division title further out of reach and increases the likelihood of a three-game wild-card series.
“Everybody’s checking the scoreboard and paying attention,” third baseman Matt Chapman said Wednesday afternoon. “For us, every single game is a must-win … That’s the mentality right now is win every day.”
Of course it doesn’t help when the Yankees pull off unlikely comebacks the way they did Tuesday, when Aaron Judge hit home run No. 60 and Giancarlo Stanton followed up with a walk-off grand slam.
“We’re paying attention,” Chapman said. “Watching what Aaron Judge is doing day-in and day-out is impressive. He’s a great player. He’s fun to watch. Unfortunately he’s driving that team that’s ahead of us right now … that’s how tough this division is.”
Meanwhile, two players experienced left-side issues Wednesday. Santiago Espinal exited the game with left-side discomfort, while Gausman stretched his left arm in an attempt to corral a second-inning feed from Guerrero Jr., only to overstretch his glove side. Afterwards, he said he felt fine physically despite the awkward play.
From here, the challenge only intensifies as the Blue Jays head to St. Petersburg, Fla., for four games against the Tampa Bay Rays, the team chasing the Blue Jays in the wild-card race. Since Tampa Bay holds an 8-7 advantage in the season series, the Blue Jays will need to win at least three of four against the Rays to secure the tiebreaker advantage should the teams finish the season with identical records.
And while there’s a case to be made that finishing third and locking in a first-round matchup against the AL Central winners, that’s not how Chapman views it. The Blue Jays are 43-32 at Rogers Centre this year, and there’s more comfort at home, too. Even if the Blue Jays are now overwhelmingly likely to reach the playoffs, they care about how they get there.
“Regardless of where we end up we want to host,” Chapman said. “We want to play in front of our home fans. We know how well we play at home and how fun it is to have our fans behind us. I’ve played on the road in the playoffs before and it’s tough. It’s always nice to have the home crowd, so we really want that.”
Ideally, the Blue Jays would make sure these four games at the Trop are their last.
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