ARLINGTON, Texas – The front end of this season-defining stretch couldn’t have gone much better for the Toronto Blue Jays and now the challenge is really up with a crucial eight-game stretch against the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles.
A bullpen performance in Sunday’s 4-1 loss to the Texas Rangers, which ended with an 8-2 road trip that cemented their grip on a wild-card spot, was all about optimizing for the impending showdown with the Rays.
Jose Berrios would have been up for the final out at Globe Life Field in front of a crowd of 20,984, but facing five games in four days against their archrivals, the Blue Jays opted to line up their top four arms for the occasion . Berrios gets the first, followed by Alek Manoah and likely Mitch White in Tuesday’s day-night twin bill, with Ross Stripling and Kevin Gausman getting the final two games.
The Blue Jays have another hole to fill for Friday’s series opener against the Orioles, and without a viable option in triple-A another bullpen game is possible, with Berrios and Manoah to follow.
It’s time to let it go.
“It was a great road trip,” interim manager John Schneider said. “The boys are competing hard and playing well in general. I really like where we are as a group and I’m looking forward to an exciting week at home.”
The standings remain tight, with the Seattle Mariners (79-61), Rays (78-60) and Blue Jays (78-61) all within a half game of each other for the three wild-card spots. The Orioles (73-67) are 5.5 games off the pace and in danger of falling out of the mix.
“Really our season is in the next two weeks with how many back-to-back games we have against the Rays and the Orioles. That will tell,” Stripling said. “We’ve done well in the last few days of playing at this point, understanding you’ve got to take care of the Pirates, you’ve got to take care of the Rangers, winning teams. Don’t look ahead to the Rays. He kind of did that maybe in the last game against the Cubs at Rogers Center (a 7-5 loss on Aug. 31), he let the game slip away, maybe looking ahead to a winning streak. But, for the most part, I feel like we really stayed in the moment.”
A three-game sweep of the Pirates, three of four in Baltimore and two of three against the Rangers speaks for itself. The Blue Jays had their chances against Martin Perez to secure another W, but couldn’t fight the rather liberal interpretation of the strike zone in the heart of Texas by both the lefty and the home plate Rob Drake.
Questionable calls against Matt Chapman, caught staring at 3-2, and Whit Merrifield, buried 1-2 for two strikeouts, helped snuff out a two-out, two-out rally in the second, for example, while that Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Alejandro Kirk ended up looking at the sky at different points.
Any batter to walk in this one really earned it.
“We were trying to get Perez over the plate and he did a good job of hitting him in there. I’m sure Jonah Heim got high praise from (Rangers catching coach) Bobby Wilson when he got it,” Schneider said in a diplomatic way. “I was impressed that the guys stuck to their approach and their game plan and stayed calm and I think that’s the sign of a really good team that’s growing as well.”
As he did a week ago against the Pirates, Trevor Richards started this one, but couldn’t get out of the first inning, giving up an RBI double to Nathaniel Lowe and leaving the bases loaded for David Phelps, who has limited intel. gently the damage.
Phelps followed with two outs in the second before handing the reins to Yusei Kikuchi, who got Corey Seager to end that frame before giving up a two-run shot to third to Adolis Garcia. The lefty got two more outs in the fourth but also left the bases loaded for Zach Pop, who plated Garcia and followed with a three-and-out fifth.
Julian Merryweather pitched two scoreless frames before Anthony Bass handled the eighth, giving up a solo shot to Leody Tavares.
All in all, it was a solid collective effort.
“We gave our team a chance,” Phelps said. “The goal is to score zeros, but we’ve seen what our offense can do. Even in that ninth inning there, we were a couple of swings away. I think it speaks to the resiliency of our club that when we’re having a bullpen day, it’s one guy after another picking it up. We’ve talked about it because I feel like the last three or four months now, that it’s going to take 26, now 28 guys to fight for each other, lift each other up to get to where we want to go.”
Using six relievers before five games in four days isn’t optimal, but part of the Blue Jays’ calculation is that Berrios, Manoah, Gausman and Stripling are reliable enough to wait six innings, allowing them to spread out bullpen innings. Tuesday’s doubleheader will challenge that, but that’s the situation forced upon them by their lack of rotation depth and it takes a heavier toll on their top four starters.
“We tried strategically to get guys an extra day here or there and rotate it into the top four,” Schneider said. “You’re strong and every game is important, especially when you come home and there’s a doubleheader against Tampa. Hopefully we can get past that and line up who we want with the appropriate rest. That’s the plan at this point.”
The Blue Jays are 4-6 against the Rays and 6-7 against the Orioles so far, and in addition to keeping pace in the standings, tiebreaker advantages will also be at stake. Beyond next week, there are four more games in Tampa Bay while three games remain against the division-leading New York Yankees, and while unlikely, a run in the AL East is not out of the question .
“The next two series are going to be key for us,” said Teoscar Hernandez, who returned from paternity leave with two hits, including an RBI double and a walk. “That’s going to determine if we’re going to fight for a playoff spot or if we’re going to be in a spot where we’re like, OK, we’ve just got to play hard and try to stay where we’re at.”
Still, after a three-city, 10-game road trip, eight games in seven days against other contenders will be a stretch. The Blue Jays, after a 6-1 road trip to New York and Boston in late August, returned home and played one of their worst series of the season, a three-game sweep of the Angels from Los Angeles.
They will dive into the clash with the Rays after an intercontinental flight.
“Everybody in the major leagues is tired right now,” Chapman said. “What really separates guys is how mentally tough you can be. We have high expectations, but you don’t go out there and try to force yourself into the game. You let it come to you. Stay in the moment. Control what you can control and trick yourself into finding ways to get the job done.”
Added Phelps: “Every guy in the clubhouse knows what this team can do. At the end of the day, we’ve spent the whole season in a playoff spot. We know what we’re capable of. We know what we want to do. If we can keep winning series, we are in a very good place”.