TORONTO -- It was yet another similar start, but a different heartbreaking end for the Blue Jays in the finale of a four-game series against the Rangers on Sunday afternoon at Rogers Centre.
For the seventh straight game, the Blue Jays gave up a run in the first inning and spent most of the afternoon chasing it.
They briefly caught up in the eighth inning, thanks to a game-tying two-run home run off the bat of Nathan Lukes, only to see a wild pitch score Rangers pinch-runner Jarred Kelenic from second base with the eventual winning run in the top of the ninth in a 3-2 loss.
“It’s the last thing you expect,” manager John Schneider said of the decisive run. “You get a chance to get Louis [Varland] in the game, couple quick strikeouts, then a good at-bat from [Josh] Jung. You don’t see it often, a wild pitch going off [catcher Alejandro Kirk] and off the [home-plate] umpire [Alan Porter], and the guy scores from second.”
The Blue Jays didn’t help shift the narrative early.
Joc Pederson sent the first pitch of the game -- a 91 mph four-seamer from Toronto starter Shane Bieber -- over the right-field wall for a quick 1-0 lead.
Bieber said he was well aware heading into the start of the runs his team has been giving up in the first inning.
“The game didn’t start in an ideal fashion,” said Bieber, who K’d Jung for his 1,000th career strikeout in the fifth inning. “I knew that coming in, and first pitch of the game, I was put on my heels. It was a frustrating start to the game, but that’s baseball. It’s an interesting game at times and it tends to work in stretches like that. We can definitely be a little more sharp from the get-go.”
This one couldn’t be pinned on the starting pitching, though, as Bieber settled down to toss 5 1/3 innings, while allowing two runs on five hits and four walks to go with four strikeouts in a 92-pitch outing.
It was the type of start the rotation needed to get back on track.
“I fell into a rhythm there,” Bieber said. “I was able to bounce back and put up some competitive innings. Objectively, from how I felt out there, it was a step in the right direction.”
Toronto’s offense, on the other hand, continued to struggle through the early and mid parts of the game.
In 28 innings against Rangers starters in the series, the Blue Jays scored three runs, all of which came in the fifth inning off MacKenzie Gore in Game 1.
Schneider said it’s an issue the team has discussed.
“Obviously, we’re not getting any offense going early in games,” the skipper said. “That’s well documented and something we talk about almost daily in terms of what we can control in terms of prep, and what we can control in terms of adjusting as the game goes.”
When dissecting the offense, it starts with first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who has seen his OPS plummet to .697 on the season.
Schneider shot down the idea of doing anything drastic and said his star is in a good headspace despite his lack of production.
“I think there’s always a time when a guy needs a little bit of a break, whether it’s physically, mentally, whatever it is,” Schneider said. “It’s no secret we’re going to need Vlad if we want to be good. He knows that, we know that. My job is to make sure his work is good, his mindset is good. You have to trust that it’s going to come through.”