TORONTO -- A Blue Jays starter once again dug the team into an early hole it couldn’t climb out of on Friday night at Rogers Centre.
The Rangers sent eight batters to the plate in the top of the first inning and scored three runs off Patrick Corbin. It was a lead Texas would never relinquish en route to a 5-4 victory over Toronto in the second of a four-game series.
By the time Corbin exited, he had allowed five runs on seven hits over 4 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out five, giving way to Spencer Miles after 94 pitches.
It made for back-to-back nights a struggling starter did them in after Kevin Gausman allowed six earned runs in six innings of work in a 6-5 loss on Thursday.
It’s surely frustrating given the rotation is supposed to be the team’s strength.
Gausman, Dylan Cease, Trey Yesavage, Cody Ponce, Shane Bieber, José Berríos, Max Scherzer and Eric Lauer gave manager John Schneider eight big league options to play with at the outset of the season. It was a group that even had enough depth to deal with an inevitable injury or two, a luxury many teams can’t afford.
When the depth was tested early, they picked up Corbin, another arm with a considerable big league track record.
Now, 82 games into a season that began with so much optimism, injuries and poor performances have left the Blue Jays (39-43) with more questions than answers in the rotation.
Cease and Yesavage have come largely as advertised, but 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.
As for Corbin, Friday night was the fourth straight start he’s failed to get through five innings. He’s given up 15 earned runs in 14 2/3 innings over that span and his ERA now sits at 5.09.
“Sometimes you think you’re nibbling, but I don’t think I’m doing that,” Corbin said postgame. “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.”
Knowing he’s going through a tough stretch, Corbin is trying to also take the positives away from his outings.
“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 level of concern about the rotation postgame, but admitted it’s tough when you find yourself trailing early like they have been recently.
“I think they will,” Schneider said of his starting 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.”
General manager Ross Atkins spoke about the need for more starting pitching during his media availability earlier this week, a statement that’s only grown louder in the following days.
A late-inning surge that saw the offense produce four runs, including a two-run home run from Kazuma Okamoto in the eighth, was a bright spot. But ultimately, it was too little, too late for the second straight night.
The Blue Jays will send Cease to the mound on Saturday afternoon in hopes of getting back on track.
“Trust his stuff in the zone,” Schneider said of what he wants to see from Cease. “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.”