A bullpen day this early in the season is tough, and many of the regulars are tired. But you can’t put Brandon Little into a one run game unless all of the other options are literally deceased. John Schneider did, and as a consequence the Blue Jays lost.
Of course, it isn’t all on Little. The Jays managed just two off Anthony Kay, which is its own problem. And bad base running and fielding compounded the issue. Regardless of how you attribute blame, it was a bad game to lose, and a bad way to lose it. The Jays now find themselves in the position of needing a win tomorrow to stay above .500 in the easiest stretch of the season. And they’ve suffered two major injuries in that stretch to boot. You can’t panic in a season as long as baseball’s, especially not in April, but fair to say the good vibes coming out of the gate have at least temporarily dissipated.
Grant Taylor was as untouchable as he was yesterday, opening the game by sitting the Jays down in order on 8 pitches. Mason Fluharty wasn’t as good today, giving up a one out single and a double off the left field wall to get into a jam. The lead runner came home on a sac fly, but he was able to get a pop out to stop the damage there.
Anthony Kay came on as the bulk guy for the White Sox in the second. Kazuma Okamoto worked a walk, but was traded for Ernie Clement on a fielder’s choice. Clement stole second to put a Jay in scoring position with two out. That almost paid off, as Myles Straw hit a hard liner, but it was right into third baseman Miguel Vargas’ glove. After a quiet third, Davis Schneider lead off the fourth with a ground ball single. Vlad came within about a foot of giving the Jays the lead, golfing a towering fly ball to the power alley in left that Austin Hays caught against the top of the wall. Okamoto lined a single that advanced Schneider to second. First baseman Munetaka Murakami booted a hard grounder off Daulton Varsho’s bat and all three runners advanced safely. Again they failed to capitalize, as Clement popped out and Straw flew out to left. Tyler Heineman was robbed of a hit by Vargas in the fifth on a scorched one-hopper, the only excitement in the inning.
They finally landed a punch on Kay in the sixth. Schneider worked a walk and Vlad didn’t miss on his second chance, launching a low slider 437 feet to left to put the Jays in front 2-1. Kay got Okamoto to ground out before being lifted for Chris Murphy. Murphy was able to hold it there, getting the next two batters.
Lazaro Estrada followed Fluharty for the Jays. He looked sharp in the second, setting the White Sox down in order. He got the first two batters in the third, but then walked Vargas, who was able to steal second. He escaped the jam by getting the dangerous Murekami to chase a high fastball for a strikeout. He issued his second walk, to Colson Mongomery, in the bottom of the fourth, but again got out of it with a line out and a pop out. The fifth was quieter, as he sat the White Sox down in order. In total, Estrada worked four innings, giving up two walks but no hits and striking out three. It was a clutch fill-in performance that took a load off the regular major league bullpen that it wasn’t in a good position to bear.
I guess deciding that they really didn’t need to win this afternoon after all, John Schneider called for Brandon Little to handle the bottom of the sixth. It took him five pitches to blow it, with Vargas doubling and Murakami launching a two run shot to dead centre field. A Montgomery solo shot one batter later gave Chicago an insurance run. Tommy Nance came in to mop up, preserving the deficit at 4-2.
Myles Straw bunted for a single to lead off and advanced on a Gimenez ground out. Heineman then lined a single to centre to bump Straw to third. That forced Murphy out of the game. Replacement Jordan Hicks walked George Springer to load the bases. Nathan Lukes was called on to pinch hit for Davis Schneider. He flew out to shallow right. It was just deep enough for the speedy Straw to tag and score, cutting the Sox’ lead to one, but Heineman foolishly tried to sneak into third behind him and got himself thrown out. That took the bat out of Vlad’s hands with what would have been the tieing runner in scoring position anyway. Just an unacceptable decision from a guy who should be one of their savviest players. Nance stayed in for a 1-2-3 bottom half.
Hicks got the first to Blue Jays in the eighth before giving way to Sean Newcomb, who walked Varsho but got Clement to ground out. Braydon Fisher took the home half and looked tired, missing spots and getting hit. He walked Vargas, got Murakami to line out, and gave up a hard line single to Hays. He got Montgomery swinging for the second out. Luisangel Acuna then tapped a grounder to Clement at second. Ernie didn’t have a play at first, but for some reason Vargas rounded third, and Clement was able to toss it to Okamoto to get him in a rundown. So far so good. But then Heineman sailed the second throw of that rundown into left, allowing two runs to score. Acuna tried to come to third and was tagged out, ending the inning, but the damage and embarrassment were done and the White Sox lead 6-3.
Addison Barger hit for Straw to lead off the ninth, facing Seranthony Dominguez, and worked a walk. Gimenez grounded into a fielder’s choice for the first out. Jesus Sanchez, hitting for Heineman, lined a broken bat single to left, bringing the tieing run to the plate. Springer couldn’t do anything with the opportunity, striking out swinging and neither could Nathan Lukes, who grounded out.
Jays of the Day: Estrada (0.18), Vlad (0.16),
Less So: Little (-0.44), Fisher (-0.10, but only because he eats the WPA hit for Heineman’s error), Lukes (-0.17), Clement (-0.16), Gimenez (-0.13), and Heineman (who doesn’t have the number but who richly deserves it)
One more game in the series, tomorrow at 2:10pm ET. Eric Lauer (1-0, 3.38) is set to start after being bumped back from today’s appearance due to illness. Hopefully he’ll be able to go, as the bullpen is gassed. Davis Martin (1-0, 5.40) goes for the Sox.