Patrick Corbin’s rough start helped the Rangers jump to a 3-run lead in the first inning, and Toronto couldn’t recover in a 5-4 loss at Rogers Centre. It was Corbin’s fourth straight start failing to reach five innings, extending a rotation spiral that has lef
Friday night at Rogers Centre started like the last few days have felt for the Blue Jays: a quick hole, too many pitches early, and not enough time to fix it.
Texas sent eight batters to the plate in the top of the first inning and scored three runs off Patrick Corbin. It was the kind of early Texas lead the Blue Jays couldn’t chip away at this time. The Rangers kept control the rest of the way for a 5-4 victory in the second game of a four-game series.
By the time Corbin exited, the damage was already done. He allowed five runs on seven hits over 4 1/3 innings, walked one, and struck out five. After 94 pitches, Spencer Miles took over. The loss didn’t come in isolation, either. It followed a tough night the previous evening. when Kevin Gausman allowed six earned runs in six innings in a 6-5 defeat.
The rotation, once framed as a strength, has turned into the source of the loudest frustration. The Blue Jays entered the season with manager John Schneider having eight big league options to work with: Gausman. Dylan Cease. Trey Yesavage. Cody Ponce. Shane Bieber. José Berríos. Max Scherzer. and Eric Lauer. It was enough depth to absorb what most teams can’t avoid—injuries.
When that depth was tested, they picked up Corbin, adding another arm with a considerable big league track record. But 82 games into a season that began with optimism, the rotation is now defined by uncertainty.
Cease and Yesavage have largely delivered as advertised. Gausman has struggled in two straight starts, and Bieber scuffled in his first start back from the IL. Meanwhile, Scherzer remains sidelined with back spasms and has posted a 10.23 ERA in 22 innings when he’s been healthy enough to pitch.
Corbin’s night only underlined the problem. Friday marked the fourth straight start in which he failed to get through five innings. Over that span, he has given up 15 earned runs in 14 2/3 innings, and his ERA now sits at 5.09.
Postgame, Corbin tried to make sense of it from the feel of the at-bats. “Sometimes you think you’re nibbling, but I don’t think I’m doing that,” Corbin said. “Some long at-bats. It didn’t seem like anything was going my way and you look up and then there’s 30 pitches in the first.”
He also pointed to what he believed was still working—velocity and the ball coming out of his hand. “I thought the ball was coming out pretty good,” Corbin said. “A lot of 93 [mph] and some 94s tonight, which is good for me. Just trying to find ways to finish guys. I don’t think it’s not throwing enough strikes. I think it’s trying to put guys away and try to get some weak contact earlier.”.
Schneider downplayed any alarm about the rotation, even as the timing of the struggles has become hard to ignore. “I think they will,” Schneider said of the rotation getting back on track. “I don’t think it’s a concern, I think it’s a matter of trusting guys to make some adjustments. When you’re asking a lot of the bullpen, it’s tough. You’re waiting for a couple. two. three. four in a row to reel off to kind of reset you a little bit.”.
That comment landed in the same week the club’s front office put starting pitching directly in focus. General manager Ross Atkins spoke about the need for more starting pitching during his media availability earlier this week, and the urgency around it has only grown in the days since.
For a moment, Toronto had something to hold onto. The offense produced a late-inning surge, scoring four runs and getting a two-run home run from Kazuma Okamoto in the eighth. But it wasn’t enough again—too little, too late for the second straight night.
The Blue Jays will look for a reset on Saturday afternoon, sending Dylan Cease to the mound. Schneider’s message to him was clear: “Trust his stuff in the zone,” Schneider said. “Know this is an aggressive team and they’re going to battle you too at times. There’s been a lot of long at-bats the last couple games for a variety of different hitters. I think being in the zone and trusting that his stuff is good. Hopefully he can get some quick outs and use all of his pitches effectively.”.
Toronto Blue Jays Patrick Corbin Texas Rangers Rogers Centre rotation struggles Dylan Cease Kazuma Okamoto John Schneider Ross Atkins Spencer Miles