TORONTO – Hours after Toronto Blue Jays president and CEO Mark Shapiro blamed his team’s disappointing year on the bullpen, his relievers wasted another outing.
The Blue Jays (52-62) bullpen squandered a decent five-inning performance from Bowden Francis, allowing two runs in the seventh and three more in the eighth in a 7-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles (68-47) before 35,547 at Rogers Center on Wednesday.
Shapiro reasoned that the bullpen “has been an Achilles heel for us all year” during a 17-minute session with reporters earlier in the afternoon.
On Wednesday night, Ryan Burr (0-1) surrendered a monstrous 400-foot, two-run blast to right field from Jackson Holliday in the seventh to give the Orioles a 4-3 lead.
Anthony Santander hit his second home run of the game in the eighth off Ryan Yarbrough to start another bountiful inning for the visitors.
Santander had hit a two-run long ball, his Major League-leading 24th homer since early June, in the first inning off Francis with lead-off hitter Colton Cowser already on base.
Francis then settled down, completing five innings and giving up just three hits and a walk with seven strikeouts.
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“He made a mistake on a curveball to Santander, but he threw well,” Toronto manager John Schneider said.
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“It’s a tough line-up to navigate, but I thought he did a really, really good job. After the first inning, he was about as good as we could have asked for.”
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. extended his hit streak to 19 games with a single in the first inning, but he also made two errors at third base.
Guerrero also hit one against the right field wall in the seventh, which was snared by Santander.
Orioles starter Trevor Rogers also lasted five innings in his second start since being acquired from the Miami Marlins before the July 30 trade deadline. He gave up three runs on seven hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
The Blue Jays loaded the bases with three singles by Ernie Clement, Guerrero and Alejandro Kirk in the first inning.
Clement scored on a sacrifice fly by Spencer Horwitz.
Toronto took a 3-2 lead in the second inning on a runscoring single by Brian Serven and a throwing error by Orioles third baseman Coby Mayo.
Baltimore reliever Burch Smith (3-0) pitched a clean sixth to get the win.
SHAPIRO SPEAKS
In his first media appearance since March 21, Shapiro called his ninth season at the helm of the Blue Jays “by far the biggest disconnect from our expectations and the biggest disappointment.”
Toronto will fail to make its fourth playoff appearance in five years after going 2-0 in the 2020, 2022 and 2023 American League Wild Card Series.
But Shapiro hinted that general manager Ross Atkins will get a chance to rebuild the Blue Jays into a contender this offseason.
“I’m rarely unequivocal about anything,” Shapiro said. “Commenting on position status during the season is not something I have done or will do.
“That said, contextually I am a big believer in continuity and stability and I think these are competitive advantages. The focus of my conversations with Ross is what we can learn about how we build the team.”
Shapiro spoke to reporters in front of the Blue Jays dugout, eight days after the trade deadline and during the Paris Olympics.
Shapiro declined to reveal whether contract extensions were in the offing for Guerrero and Bo Bichette. They have a contract until the end of 2025.
“It is certainly easier to build a sustainable championship team with such talent for longer periods,” he said.
ON DECK
Kevin Gausman (9-8) will start for the Blue Jays in the series finale against the Orioles on Thursday. Baltimore counters with righty Dean Kremer (4-8).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 7, 2024.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
