Winless In Seattle: 4 Takeaways From Blue Jays Finale Loss to Mariners
George Springer started the ball game with some needed pop, slamming a first-pitch homer into left field. The run gave Toronto an early lead and breathed hope into a scuttling club. But nine innings later, Springer stepped back into the box as Toronto’s final hope.
With plenty of Blue Jays fans down in Seattle to catch Toronto's last attempt at a weekend win, Springer grounded one back to Mariners pitcher Paul Sewald.
Dropping their fourth game of the Seattle series, the Jays fell 6-5 in familiarly excruciating fashion. Here are four takeaways from the Blue Jays’ Sunday defeat:
Just Out Of Reach
Like many of Toronto's recent losses, Sunday's contest was within reach. But, as three balls barely slipped away from Blue Jay defenders, so did a win.
In a full-count, bases-loaded spot in the fifth inning, David Phelps induced the exact ball he needed. Scooping a bouncing grounder, Phelps fired home to Gabriel Moreno who turned and ripped one down the line for a double play.
The inning was over, Toronto retained its 4-1 lead, and Phelps celebrated off the mound. Wait, scratch that, the thrown ball burst through Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s glove at first base and trickled into the outfield, scoring the run and keeping the inning alive.
The Mariners would add another tally in the fifth, drawing within one. Two innings later, a ball popped in and out of Tim Mayza's glove as the tying run came to third, scoring later on a sac fly. Even when the Jays re-took the lead on a Bo Bichette blast, the ball still eluded Toronto when it mattered. A towering infield fly in the bottom of the eighth dropped just out of Gabriel Moreno's reach, clipping his glove before rolling into foul ground. Toronto's second error set up for Seattle's winning blast in the next at-bat.
Santana Strikes Again
Carlos Santana entered this series with four homers on the season. He nearly doubled that total this weekend, hammering three nails into Toronto's hearts. With five hits in the four-game series, Santana blasted the game-winning homers of Saturday and Sunday's contests.
After Moreno's bobble allowed Crawford to first in the bottom of the eighth, Santana crushed a pitch from Adam Cimber into Seattle's right field to turn a deficit into a Mariners lead. Three Sewald outs later and the sweep was complete.
Two More All-Stars
During Sunday's loss, the Blue Jays got a needed silver lining, as two more Toronto players were named 2022 MLB All-Stars. George Springer earned his fourth nomination, after barely losing out on the final outfield starting spot via fan vote to Giancarlo Stanton, while Alek Manoah earned his first appearance.
The starting spots were elected by fan vote earlier this week and the remaining spots were chosen via player vote and the Commissioner's Office. The AL vs NL game will be played on July 19 in Los Angeles
Zooming Out
With Sunday's loss, the Jays fell to 45-42, just as close to the Baltimore Orioles as they are to the top Wild Card seed. With four straight losses in Seattle, a 1-6 road trip, and a 1-9 record in their last 10 games, the Jays are on a slide.
Despite the despair, the Jays remain in a playoff spot and still, per FanGraphs postseason odds, have a 79.9% chance of making the playoffs—above the Red Sox, Rays, White Sox, and Mariners.
Things just haven't clicked at the same time for Toronto this season. They've had one of the best pitching staffs and top offenses in baseball at times this year, but the facets haven't aligned for a serious string of wins. Despite scoring the most runs in MLB in June, they went only 15-13. The pitching that dogged them last month has been fine early in July, just in time for the bats to go cold, scoring 17 runs (2.4 per game) over this seven-game road trip. The ingredients of a great team remain, and the playoff odds reflect it, but the elements haven't aligned in a while to produce wins.
The Blue Jays have a needed day off on Monday, though a large contingent of Jays will attend the funeral of Julia Budzinski, the daughter of first base coach Mark Budzinski.
