Blue Jays Lose Late In Measuring Stick Series

Tuesday night's baseball game started like a reenactment of the 1998 film Parent Trap.

The space between the Chicago White Sox and Toronto Blue Jays dugouts may have well been a mirror, highlighting the countless similarities between the twin clubs. Both teams roster exciting young lineups supplanted with key veteran signings, have overcome 2021 injuries with prospect depth, roster an MVP first basemen, and tossed hard-throwing lefties in the midst of career-reviving seasons.

The White Sox are a similarly built team, with a similarly open window, and similarly lofty 2021 aspirations. They are a team the Blue Jays can measure themselves against, and the type of squad they need to beat to prove Toronto belongs in the playoff picture. But on Tuesday the White Sox highlighted how they were different. They held the Blue Jays to just one-for-12 with runners in scoring position, scored six late runs, and overcame a brilliant Robbie Ray start.

In the third inning, Ray notched his fifth strikeout on a diving slider that bounced a foot in front of home plate. Tim Anderson squirmed in the box as he attempted to throw his bat down toward the bouncing pitch. The Blue Jays held the 2020 batting champ to just two singles, they also held 2020 MVP Jose Abreu to a lone hit and chased Carlos Rodon and his sub-two ERA after just five innings. They held the White Sox stars in check, but fell nonetheless.

Yoan Moncada drifted off first as Ray faced Abreu in the sixth. With one out, Ray stared at Moncada before turning to the plate, delivering a slider below the zone to induce an Abreu whiff and notched his 11th strikeout of the night. On his career, Abreu has hit .306 with a .907 OPS against lefties, but on Tuesday he was just one of many overmatched White Sox.

"I felt like my stuff was great all night, Ray said. "I don't regret anything that I did tonight."

The White Sox roster the sixth best offense in baseball and the fourth best pitching staff. While Toronto's top three hitters got on base seven times and Ray dominated, Chicago still found a way to win — as great teams do.

Ray's night ended in the seventh on an Andrew Vaughn solo shot, but Toronto's squandered opportunities tacked him with a no decision. The Blue Jays had runners on base all game, getting to third in the game's first two innings and tallying eight hits total, but they managed just one run.

For all the similarities between the Blue Jays and White Sox, the games final innings highlighted a glaring disconnect. After Vaughn tied the game, Chicago Manager Tony La Russa trotted out some of the best shutdown arms in baseball. The White Sox received four scoreless innings from their pen, as Garrett Crochet pitched a perfect eighth and Liam Hendriks cleaned up the ninth.

"Their pitching is pretty good," Manager Charlie Montoyo said. "The guys that came out of the bullpen did a nice job. That doesn't matter for us, we still find ways to score runs, but their pitching did a nice job today."

For Toronto, the bullpen was a tight-rope walk that culminated in disaster. Rafael Dolis loaded the bases in the seventh before working out of the jam, but Trent Thornton's eighth inning had no such luck.

The Blue Jays led for most of Tuesday, hung in the game until the five-run eighth, and had plenty of opportunities to prove they were the better team. But, at least Tuesday, they were not.

Add us as a preferred source on Google