Baltimore Orioles bury the Blue Jays in a barrage of hits and homers

Yahoo

7 days ago

The Blue Jays entered baseball's all-star break on a two-game losing streak.
And now for the first time since the break, the Jays have lost two in a row.
All is not lost for a team that has won far more often than it has suffered setbacks, but on nights when pitching falters the Jays founder.
The latest example was provided Monday night when the host Baltimore Orioles broke open a 3-3 game by using the longball to shred Toronto's pitching en route to an 11-4 win.
The O's are in sell mode as they play out the string to a very disappointing season, while the Jays must add if they want to be considered serious contenders when games really matter.
They haven't played clean baseball in two straight games, two games in which the Jays have been blown out, beginning with Sunday's 10-4 loss in Detroit when Toronto scored four meaningless runs in the ninth inning.
The following are three takeaways on a night when everyone in attendance held its breath after George Springer was hit on the left side of his face with a one-out fastball in the ninth inning that unnerved pitcher Kade Strowd, a night when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his 13th home run of the season.
1. Bassitt doesn't have it
This was one of those outings where veteran Chris Bassitt was out of sync.
Bad starts are one thing, but a bad start becomes problematic knowing four games will be played in such a tight time frame.
In other words, it puts undue stress on the bullpen.
The best Bassitt, who has been good, could provide the Jays were seven outs.
Ouch!
When Bassitt was given the hook with one on and one out in the home half of the third inning, the Jays were trailing 6-3.
His 2.1-inning outing was Bassitt's second-shortest of the season.
On June 26 at Fenway Park, the veteran right-hander walked four, gave up eight hits and eight earned runs in 2.0 innings in what turned out to be a thorough beatdown in Beantown.
Bassitt's 69-pitch outing in Baltimore was marred by two homers surrendered, while seven hits and six earned runs would be yielded.
In the four starts since his Fenway folly, Bassitt pitched into the sixth inning.
He even gave the Jays one inning of relief to take the strain off the pen in Sacramento just prior to the all-star break.
2. Bo makes history
Bo Bichette went 5-for-5 in Sunday's loss in Detroit, the fifth plate appearance courtesy of some pitiful pitching by a Tigers bullpen in the ninth inning.
The way Bichette is seeing the ball, no pitcher is capable of retiring him.
His elite hand-eye co-ordination was on full display in his first two at-bats Monday night, each resulting in singles as Bichette went 7-for-7 in his past seven at-bats.
A fifth-inning bloop single that went off the end of the bat gave Bichette eight for eight to tie a franchise record.
In the seventh inning, his first pitch in the at-bat was ruled a hit, giving Bichette his ninth consecutive base knock to set a club record.
His streak ended in the ninth inning when he hit into a double play to end the game.
His 5-for-5 day in Detroit came in a loss as did Bichette's 4-for-5 game in Baltimore.
3. Making moves
As of press time, no deal was engineered by the Blue Jays, who are in the market to add, ideally, at least two arms to the bullpen, a potential starter and a right-handed bat.
A double dip awaits Tuesday followed by an afternoon game Wednesday in as hectic a stretch the Jays will experience.
It will all lead up to Thursday's 6 p.m. trade deadline.
Daulton Varsho has a few more games scheduled in triple-A as he makes his way back from a hamstring injury.
If a deal makes the Jays better and Varsho must be sacrificed, so be it.
Nathan Lukes and Myles Straw have almost made Varsho an afterthought.
Lukes hit leadoff in the series opener and went yard in the third inning for his eighth homer of the season and his third in the past five games.
He was denied a multi-homer game when Cedric Mullins soared over the wall in straight-away centre to rob Lukes and prevent the Jays from tying the game in the fourth inning.
Opportunities such as the one the Jays have been presented and created this season don't come around often and no one, save for Vlad Jr., should be exempt from any trade discussion, including Varsho.
Pitchers Lazaro Estrada, Easton Lucas and Paxton Schultz were in Baltimore as the club prepares for the doubleheader.
None was active for the series opener.
As of Monday, Eric Lauer was scheduled to start in the night cap.
Up next
The frenetic slate at stifling hot Oriole Park at Camden Yards continues with Tuesday's 12:35 p.m. first pitch followed by first pitch at 6:35 p.m. to complete the day's double dip; a DH day for Vlad Jr. is a certainty for one of the two games; teams are allowed to add a player to the 26-man roster for doubleheaders.
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Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg dies after cancer battle