Blue Jays Ace Explains Why Team Has Cooled Off After Red-Hot Stretch
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Teams lose over the course of the 162-game season, but for a while there, the Toronto Blue Jays weren't dropping games very often.
They got red-hot during the summer to own baseball's best record at one point, vaulting them to the top of the AL East standings where they look like the best team in the division.
But the Blue Jays have looked like a different team recently, losing back-to-back series against the Baltimore Orioles and Kansas City Royals, with their set against the Royals coming at home. Losing a series at the Rogers Centre is something that hasn't happened since June 20-22, and they haven't had back-to-back series losses since early May.
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This happens during a long season of baseball, however, Kevin Gausman believes these results are due to more than just the variance of the sport.
"We need to play better and kind of have a little bit more focus. I think some of the things that we were really good at in our stretch when we were winning a ton of games, we kind of haven't been as sharp in those areas," he said, per Mitch Bannon of The Athletic (subscription required).
Toronto has been committing errors at a much higher rate than they have all season to this point, and they are not scoring runs while giving up a ton of their own.
No matter who they play, performing in that manner is a recipe to losing games at the Major League level.
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The Blue Jays got Alejandro Kirk back on Sunday and George Springer could be back on Tuesday, two major additions to the lineup that should help fortify things. But the larger concern comes from the pitching staff, where they have given up 8.25 runs per contest during this eight-game stretch where they have gone 2-6.
Toronto didn't get to enjoy much time at home before heading out west for a road trip.
Waiting for them are the Colorado Rockies, a team that looks historically bad on paper but has started to play much better in the second half of the year as they look to avoid setting the MLB record for more losses in a single season.
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Their offense has started clicking, and if the Blue Jays can't figure things out in their pitching staff, then more crooked numbers could be put up on the board at Coors Field.
Toronto will have to find their groove again.
They did a great job of getting to this point where they are in the driver's seat of the AL East, but they have to finish strong to secure their spot in the playoffs and win their first division title in a decade.
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