Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
Missed Chances and Injuries Combine For Dreadful Blue Jays Sunday
Blue Jays manager John Schneider has a clear mantra: "Win every series."
Two, three, or four-game set. Road or home. Against the Astros or the A's. Regardless of any factor or variable, Schneider's goal has been simple. With a month left in the season, and the Blue Jays peering in on a playoff spot, that winning baseball is mandatory. With Sunday's loss to the Guardians, Toronto failed to meet that standard during a stretch when they need to most.
"It's a tough loss. It's a shitty loss," Schneider said. "And it comes down to little things. But as tough as it is, you got to just regroup and move on."
Sunday's series finale was a tumultuous metronome between hope and disappointment. When the beat finally stopped, it landed on despair for a Toronto team that really could’ve used a Sunday win.
After punches and counter-punches, the Guardians fired the last jab in the 11th inning, putting up an unmatchable four runs against Jay Jackson. While that 11th was the gut punch, the Jays lost the contest much earlier.
In the 9th, a botched bunt attempt led to Danny Jansen diving into an untimely out at third base as the would-be game-winning run. Then Santiago Espinal slashed through ball four on a 3-0 count to further sully the frame.
In the 10th, with a gifted ghost runner on second base, the core of Toronto’s batting order — Brandon Belt and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. — failed to even move the runner over before the rest of Toronto’s bats ended the inning without a run.
The 11th was the final nail, but the Jays missed chances all day. As things went sour on the scoreboard for Toronto, the off-field news certainly didn't brighten the afternoon. In a span of 20 minutes in the middle frames, shortstop Bo Bichette and Matt Chapman both exited Sunday's contest.
Santiago Espinal came in for Bichette in the sixth, replacing the infielder due to right quad tightness. After Sunday's game, Schneider said Bichette has been "feeling it" in the quad the last few days, able to play through it, and is considered day-to-day right now..
The Jays are familiar with life without Bichette, missing the SS for three weeks earlier this month. They managed to tread water during that absence, but won't have the luxury of mediocrity as they try to chase a playoff spot for the next month. Any extended Bichette absence could be back-breaking for the Blue Jays.
A half-inning later, infielder Whit Merrifield stepped into the box to pinch hit for third baseman Matt Chapman. Toronto's hot corner left the game with right middle finger inflammation, the same ailment from a few weeks ago when Chapman pinched the digit between weights. He's heading for an MRI, Schneider said after the game.
Even if Chapman and Bichette bounce back healthy, Sunday's loss may still haunt the Jays. This weekend was the Blue Jays' first crack at a stretch of five-straight series against teams under .500. It's the time to rattle off wins, not drop frustrating series finales. If Toronto wants to keep its playoff aspirations attainable, they've gotta go on a run eventually. With plenty of chances to win, Sunday would've been a good time to start.
"We lost today but we just gotta flip the page and move on to tomorrow," starter Yusei Kikuchi said through a team interpreter. "We gotta be as a unit and just move forward."
