SACRAMENTO — Wednesday’s loss will sting for the Toronto Blue Jays and they’ll have 48 hours to think about it.
The club concluded its grinding nine-game in nine-day road trip with a 2-0 loss to the Athletics at Sutter Health Park, dropping the series to a club with the second-worst record in the American League.
You can’t help but feel as though this was a missed opportunity.
In all, the Blue Jays finished their road trip through Cleveland, Kansas City and Sacramento with a 5-4 record. Yes, they took two out of three from the Guardians, securing the tie-breaker over them, but losing two out of three to the A’s means the Blue Jays now sit 1.5 games behind Cleveland in the American League wild-card race. (The Guardians play the Baltimore Orioles at 6:35 p.m. ET.)
Right-hander Braydon Fisher opened the bullpen game for the Blue Jays and the club’s relievers largely did their job in holding the A’s down, with the exception of Michael Lorenzen surrendering a solo home run to Henry Bolte in the third inning and allowing another runner to score on a wild pitch in the fourth.
The Blue Jays’ offence was mostly lifeless throughout the contest, mustering just five hits in what was essentially a bullpen game for the A’s. In the fourth inning, Alejandro Kirk didn’t score from second base on Ernie Clement’s soft single to centre field, while in the fifth, the Blue Jays had runners on first and third with one out when right-hander Scott Blewett induced a double play from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to escape the threat.
Designated hitter George Springer was not in the starting lineup and is “just a little banged up” with shoulder and leg issues, according to Blue Jays’ manager John Schneider. However, Springer, who turns 37 next week, did pinch hit in the eighth inning, sending a ball to the warning track that ultimately found the glove of A’s centre fielder Denzel Clarke.
The Blue Jays will fly back to Toronto on Wednesday evening and the extended rest ahead of Friday’s game against the Orioles at Rogers Centre should be helpful all around.
However, with just 15 games remaining on the schedule and games to make up in the playoff race, the Blue Jays are staring down a much longer rest.