Orioles' offence overwhelms Blue Jays, spoiling Ryu's return

TORONTO – As far as August days go for a baseball team, Tuesday was about as busy — and tense — as it could get at Rogers Centre.

Firstly, with the MLB trade deadline set at 6 p.m. ET, the possibility of roster-changing moves loomed large in the leadup to the Toronto Blue Jays’ game against the Baltimore Orioles. (More on that later.)

Adding to the drama was the expected update concerning the status of Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette, who left Monday’s game with a knee injury. (We’ll get to that “encouraging” news in a bit, as well.)

Amidst all the hoopla, though, it would be easy to overlook a storyline that would be front and centre on any other day at the park: The return of Hyun Jin Ryu. 

The last time the Blue Jays’ left-hander took the mound in a major-league game was June 1 of last season, 426 days ago. Following that, he underwent Tommy John surgery on his left arm and spent over a year recovering and rehabbing. 

The long journey, which Ryu mostly spent at the Blue Jays’ player development complex in Dunedin, Fla., finally culminated in him toeing the rubber in the first inning on Tuesday in front of 40,691 at Rogers Centre.  

“It was a mixture of nervousness and excitement,” Ryu said through interpreter Jun Sung Park.

And while Ryu was hit hard in what was ultimately an ugly 13-3 loss to the Orioles, the left-hander mostly kept his team in the game. 

“Got ambushed early there in the first inning, but kind of what we expected [from Orioles hitters], navigating a tough lineup,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “I thought it got better as his outing went on.”

Adley Rutschman launched Ryu’s first pitch of the game to centre field at 104.1 m.p.h. for a double and Ryan Mountcastle followed that with a 110.3-m.p.h. double to centre that cashed in Rutschman, while Gunnar Henderson plated a second run later in the frame when he beat out a throw at first to avoid a double play and extend the inning.

Ryu kept the lid on the damage though, getting Jordan Westburg to strike out to end the frame.

Rutschman added an RBI single in the second to push the score to 3-0, but the Blue Jays rallied to tie to the game with a two-run home run from Danny Jansen — his 15^th homer of the season, matching his career high set last year — and a solo shot from Brandon Belt. 

To his credit, Ryu scattered hits from the Orioles to contribute three scoreless frames before Henderson, a left-handed hitter, led off the sixth inning by depositing a middle-middle changeup just over the right-field wall.

“I anticipated that I was going to go out in the sixth,” said Ryu. “I felt good going up there knowing that the next batter in line was a left-handed hitter. So, in the back of my head, I kind of knew that's probably going to be my last hitter. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get my job done, so it’s disappointing in that aspect.”

That spelled the end of Ryu’s outing, a five-plus inning performance in which he allowed the four runs on nine hits, walking one and striking out three. The 36-year-old allowed plenty of hard contact, with seven of the Orioles’ hits registering at 99 m.p.h. or above.

Ryu relied on his four-seam fastball, throwing it 33 times out of his total 80 pitches (41 per cent). It maxed out at 91 m.p.h. and averaged 89 m.p.h. He also mixed in 22 changeups, 20 curves — which induced five of his eight whiffs — and five cutters. 

“Velocity, I think it's still going to go up a mile or two,” said the southpaw. “I wasn't locating pitches the way I wanted to, but that's all going to get better throughout the days.”

As hard as the Orioles hit Ryu, though, it paled in comparison to the damage that the American League East leaders inflicted on the Blue Jays’ bullpen. The club scored three runs off Blue Jays left-hander Genesis Cabrera in the seventh and added four more with an Anthony Santander grand slam off Nate Pearson in the eighth. Right-hander Jordan Hicks, acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday, made his Blue Jays debut and surrendered two more runs.

In all, it was an ugly game for the Blue Jays, but the day was somewhat buoyed by good news for the club in the early prognosis of Bichette. 

Schneider announced before the game that Bichette underwent an MRI on Monday night that revealed “no significant structural damage, just some inflammation.” He described it as the “best possible outcome,” adding that Bichette would be considered day-to-day for the time being. 

Added general manager Ross Atkins: “We are encouraged by the news after the fact. When you see someone in pain, there's obviously concern on many levels and the more you learn, the more at peace we've become. It is a big hit to us, hence the [trade, but] very optimistic that he’ll be helping our team again [this season].”

The acquisition Atkins referred to was shortstop Paul DeJong, who the Blue Jays landed from the Cardinals in exchange for minor-league right-hander Matt Svanson a few hours before Tuesday’s deadline. It was the club’s only deal on Tuesday.

DeJong, who was on route to Toronto on Tuesday afternoon and will likely be active on Wednesday, will provide insurance while Bichette recovers. The right-handed hitter offers a nice fit to the current roster, noted Atkins. 

The general manager didn’t need to prioritize starting pitching at the deadline thanks in part to the return of Ryu, who’ll pitch as part of a six-man rotation for the Blue Jays over the next little while.

“We were confident enough to get him back out there,” Schneider said. “You just hit go and you go with him. He's going to have a chance to have a decent amount of starts for us.”

If he continues to keep his team in the game the way he did on Tuesday, that’ll be a positive for the Blue Jays. But, at least for the moment, there is space to stop and appreciate just how far Ryu has come.

“Really can't ignore everything that he did to get to this point,” Schneider said. “Happy for him to be back and contributing with us.”