TORONTO — During the Toronto Blue Jays‘ dominant stretch that catapulted the team atop the American League East, it seemed like nearly every single move had worked out in the club’s favour.
Sunday represented the rare instance where that wasn’t the case.
Trade deadline acquisitions Seranthony Dominguez and Louis Varland struggled in relief as the Blue Jays fell to the Royals, 7-4, in 10 innings at Rogers Centre.
With the game tied 2-2 entering the 10th, Dominguez surrendered a double to Kyle Isbel that allowed ghost runner Randal Grichuk to score as the Royals took the lead.
Then, the wheels fell off for the right-hander, who joined the Blue Jays earlier this week in a trade with Baltimore.
Dominguez hit Jonathan India and walked Bobby Witt Jr. to load the bases and Tyler Tolbert followed with a single that scored two runs and effectively put the game out of reach. The Blue Jays’ right-hander was replaced by Tommy Nance and the Royals scored two more as they captured a win and took two of three games from the Blue Jays, who fell to 65-48.
Dominguez has a reputation for being a strikeout machine but can also lose the strike zone at times. His 13 per cent walk rate this season is the worst of his career and ranks in the bottom five percentile in MLB.
“First time we’ve seen it, really,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider of the wildness. “In that situation you’re looking for strikeouts and he can do that, too. The breaking ball hits India and then the walk to Witt — I think [Dominguez needed to] maybe use his fastball a little bit more. He’s got a really good fastball but we trust him to miss bats and just didn’t work out today.”
Yariel Rodriguez has played an important role in the Blue Jays’ bullpen this season and Schneider was asked about the right-hander, who didn’t pitch on Sunday and hasn’t appeared in a game since Wednesday.
“He’s good,” responded Schneider. “Kind of just works out to where we are in the lineup [and] what the situation calls for.”
Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman tossed a scoreless ninth but one inning earlier, with the team clinging to a 2-1 lead, Varland entered the contest in his first leverage opportunity since being acquired on Thursday and pitching in Friday’s blowout loss to the Royals.
Varland recorded two quick outs before Witt Jr. doubled and was driven in by a single from the next hitter, Vinnie Pasquantino, that knotted the score.
That negated a strong outing from starter Chris Bassitt, who allowed one run on one hit over six innings, walking three, hitting one batter and striking out five.
Bassitt’s only real struggle came in the fourth when he briefly lost control of the strike zone. The right-hander struck out Witt Jr. but then issued two straight walks before hitting Salvador Perez to load the bases. Mike Yastrzemski made Bassitt pay with a sacrifice fly to left field, however, the right-hander promptly punched out Adam Frazier to escape the jam with minimal damage.
“It’s fun to watch him compete,” said Schneider. “He made big pitch after big pitch and really limited the damage.”
For Bassitt, the outing was a continuation of his interesting home-road splits this year. He owns a 2.56 ERA over 13 starts and 77.1 innings with 84 strikeouts at Rogers Centre compared to a 6.45 ERA over 11 road appearances (10 starts) with 42 punchouts across 51.2 innings.
“I don’t try to treat anything different, by any means,” said Bassitt. “It is what it is. I know stats are probably swung heavily one way but I think it’s just my worst two outings have been on the road. So, if my worst two outings were at home, my numbers would look quite different.
“Obviously, the only thing I would say is you have 40,000 rooting for you instead of against you, so that helps,” he continued.
While the result of Sunday’s contest was important, there was arguably just as important a development at Sahlen Field in Buffalo, where Shane Bieber took the mound for the Bisons against the Syracuse Mets.
The right-hander, acquired from Cleveland ahead of the trade deadline, was making his first rehab start in the Blue Jays’ organization as he continues his buildup following Tommy John surgery.
Bieber allowed two runs on five hits, walking one and striking out six. He tossed 62 pitches and sat at 92.9 m.p.h. with his fastball, topping out at 94.4.
“He looked really good,” said Schneider. “Just hearing his comments after the game were that much more encouraging. So, we’re taking it a start at a time. But I think, from the stuff, the number of pitches, the velo, it’s really, really encouraging.”
Schneider said the club plans to keep Bieber on regular rest before his next rehab outing and, in the meantime, the Blue Jays will look to rebound after losing consecutive series for the first time since the middle of May, when they dropped a pair of sets at home to the Rays and Tigers.
Bassitt highlighted the club’s work coming out of the all-star break — dominant performances during key matchups with the Yankees and Tigers that preceded the Blue Jays’ current skid.
“I thought we just kind of laid an egg in Baltimore, where we ran into a super-hot Baltimore offence and we just weren’t ready for it,” he said. “Unfortunately, that happens. Then, obviously, another big series against a really good, hot offensive [Royals] team.
“Overall, just take your licks,” added Bassitt. “It’s going to happen through the year. We went on a big stretch giving everyone else that kind of thing. It’s just getting back to who we are as a team. Good pitching from the starters to the bullpen and then just grind out at-bats and be a good offensive team.”
The Blue Jays will get an opportunity to self-correct during a trip to Colorado to play the MLB-worst Rockies for three games beginning Monday, followed by a three-game date with the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
“You got to move on,” said Schneider. “You got to endure a little bit of a long flight but I think the guys will respond and not take anything for granted.”