3 Takeaways From Blue Jays' Series Finale Loss to Mariners

It was a seesaw Sunday for the series finale.

After falling behind early, the Blue Jays clawed back with eight unanswered runs, on pace for a six-game sweep of the homestand. But then, with shades of October 2022, the Mariners clawed back to salvage a win in extras.

“Today sucked," manager John Schneider said. "We had our chances, just like they did, and we didn't capitalize. But, you look back and you really like the homestand.”

Here are three (or four) takeaways from Toronto's loss to Seattle:

Bassitt Battles Past First

The entire infield took two steps toward the Blue Jay dugout in anticipation of a called third strike. Bassitt was a call away from striking out the side in the first, but his two-strike sinker was deemed just wide of the zone. The Toronto starter retook his spot on the mound and the rest of the infield paced two steps back into position.

Nine of Bassitt's next 14 pitches were balls, loading up the bases with two walks and a hit batter after striking out the first two. One pitch that found the zone was a changeup to Taylor Trammell, who granted the pitch passage to deep right for an opening-inning grand slam.

"Things happen, it's baseball," Bassitt said. "At the end of the day, I wish everything could go perfect, but it's a beautiful game."

After Trammell's blast, Bassitt retired 12 of Seattle's next 15 batters, ending his outing with just two hits against. Despite the sideways first inning, he handed Toronto its 11th consecutive outing of at least five innings from the starting pitcher.

"Chris has a pretty good ability to kind of keep things in perspective," Schneider said.

Blue Jays Bullpen Stumbles

Cal Raleigh sucked the air out of 40,158 fans with a single blast. The Mariners catcher capped a Seattle clawback by launching a sure-thing slam to right field to put Seattle up by two in the 10th.

The homer gave Seattle its first lead since the second inning and came off a Toronto bullpen that'd been locking games down with regularity lately. Raleigh accounted for the bulk of Seattle's comeback, hammering homers off Anthony Bass and Zach Pop pitches that drifted over the middle of the plate.

"Everyone's gonna have a bad day," Schneider said. "You know, and I think today was missed spots and probably some pitch selection that could have been a little bit different."

With six runs against in the final five innings, the Blue Jays' bullpen had its first stumble in weeks. Before Sunday, Toronto's relievers hadn't let up a run or even a hit over the six-game homestand. Entering Sunday, they'd struck out 26 batters and walked just two in the previous five games.

Backstops Finding Form

Baseball's new rules inject games with more base stealing than ever. And for the Jays, that's put a focus on the arms of Alejandro Kirk and Danny Jansen.

The first five attempted base stealers of the season slid in safe against Toronto's catching tandem. But since April 8th, Kirk and Jansen have thrown out five of the last 11 attempted runners. After Sunday's win, the pair has gunned down 31.3% of runners on the year, above the league average 20% caught-stealing rate.

“Stolen bases and caught stealings are tough," Schneider said. "A pitcher has to do his job, catcher has to make a good exchange and throw, infielder needs to make a good tag. So, I think the last couple days that’s what you saw."

By Baseball Savant's new catcher throwing metric, the Blue Jays' backstops combine to be exactly league average for caught stealings.

Bonus Takeaway: Tough Sledding Ahead

The Jays nearly swept a homestand and have rattled off seven wins in their last nine games. But the schedule's about to get tough. As of Sunday, the Blue Jays' next 15 series (48 games) will come against teams at or above .500. The Jays are currently 7-5 against winning teams and 11-5 against squads below .500.