© Jordan Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Bad Vibes Stalk Blue Jays in Injury-Filled Loss to Twins
The black cloud that formed in Tampa Bay followed the Blue Jays to Target Field in Minnesota.
Before the game, MLB slapped Blue Jays reliever Ryan Borucki with a three-game suspension and a fine after he was ejected for plunking Rays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier one night prior.
Borucki is appealing the ruling, but Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo was forced to serve his automatic one game suspension—by rule, a manager cannot appeal a suspension for an intentional hit-by-pitch—which meant major league coach John Schneider got his second turn at skipper this season.
Schneider won his lone other appearance as manager on June 22, but found no such luck in Thursday's 7-2 loss to the Twins, and an atrocious fifth inning was to blame.
Toronto allowed four runs in the frame, but, worst of all, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. left the game after fellow outfielder Randal Grichuk stepped on his hand while throwing the ball to a cut-off man.
“Everything we've heard, I think, is the best news we can get," Schneider said. "Obviously a couple stitches, but we'll see how he is tomorrow and hopefully it's not too long."
Gurriel Jr. went for imaging and X-rays were negative, though he did receive two stitches on his right middle finger. He's considered day-to-day, Schneider says.
"When the play happens, it's obviously far away from our dugout, so we weren't exactly sure what it was," Schneider said. "And when we got out there, talked to Lourdes and talked to Grich and kind of figured out what happened.
"And it was just one of those deals where we're kind of like, 'Wow, that sucked. That's unfortunate.' It was one of those freak things."
It's awful timing for the freak injury—just several days ago, Gurriel Jr. attributed his success this year to staying healthy—as the 27-year-old was the Blue Jays' hottest hitter entering the game, slashing .360/.424/.760 with seven home runs in September. With George Springer still not ready to patrol center field, an extended absence Gurriel Jr. could spell disaster for the Blue Jays' outfield.
The brutal series of events continued, as just a few plays later reliever Thomas Hatch left the game with right hamstring discomfort. Nick Gordon promptly welcomed Julian Merryweather to the game with a three-run blast to add a cherry on top to the Jays' train-wreck inning.
The game would've been completely out of reach if not for the heroics of Teoscar Hernández, who upped his homer total to 30 and RBI total to a cool 110 with a towering big fly that tied the game in the fourth.
Hernández's season has been remarkable as is, but it's even more impressive considering he bounced back from a three-week bout with COVID-19 in April.
With all the controversy the previous series at Tropicana Field stirred up, Toronto's first series loss since August 22 quietly slid under the radar. A four-game set in Minnesota present an obvious chance to revert the narrative, but Toronto fell short in Game One. The Blue Jays are losers in three of their last four and now drop a full game behind the Yankees for the second AL wild-card spot.
"We've got nine games left," Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen said. "Back-to-back tough losses, it's about flushing it, and it's about going to the next game. You can't dwell on tonight and we got to come back ready to play, ready to compete tomorrow night."
