TORONTO – Not even the return of leadoff hitter George Springer may pull the Toronto Blue Jays out of their August funk.
Springer returned after a 10-day stint on the disabled listing with a proper elbow damage and reached base thrice, however the Blue Jays suffered a series-opening 7-3 loss to the visiting Baltimore Orioles on Monday.
The victory was the ninth in 13 video games for the Orioles (60-55), whereas the Blue Jays (61-53) continued to stumble with two wins in 9 outings.
Toronto was riddled by some sloppy defence and poor pitching from starter Yusei Kikuchi (4-7) within the fourth inning that noticed the guests rating thrice.
“Not excellent video games defensively again to again, which will get highlighted a little bit bit,” Blue Jays interim supervisor John Schneider mentioned, referring to a messy defensive sport in a loss to the Cleveland Indians on Sunday. “However general, the defence has been nice.
“You must play good defence towards anybody within the huge leagues.”
The house aspect fell behind 3-0 however rallied for 2 runs within the third inning because of a two-run single from Lourdes Gurriel Jr. earlier than 26,769 at Rogers Centre.
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Kikuchi struck out Austin Hays to start the fourth. However the subsequent batter, Jorge Mateo, reached base on a Bo Bichette throwing error.
Mateo moved to second when Baltimore’s Terrin Vavra walked and superior to 3rd after Kikuchi’s throwing error on a pickoff try at second base.
A tough smash to Bichette knocked the Blue Jays’ shortstop off steadiness, and his throw residence to get the speedy Mateo was late.
A Ryan McKenna double to the hole in left centre scored two extra for a four-run Orioles lead.
“I felt like I used to be attacking the hitters early, however then I misplaced that rhythm,” Kikuchi mentioned.
Kikuchi was good for under 3 1/3 innings, giving up six runs (three unearned) on 4 hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
An Anthony Santander RBI single within the first body and a two-run second-deck blast from Ryan Mountcastle within the third inning gave the Orioles an early lead.
Baltimore scored one other within the fifth on a sacrifice fly from Vavra. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who noticed his 22-game hit streak finish on Sunday, countered along with his team-leading twenty fourth homer with one out within the fifth.
Springer would be the Blue Jays’ designated hitter in the interim till his sore elbow heals sufficient to permit him to play centre discipline. He went 2-for-4 with a double down the left-field line within the third inning, an infield hit within the seventh and a stroll within the ninth.
With the return of Springer to his leadoff spot, Gurriel moved from first to 3rd within the batting order.
Gurriel had one other two hits. He has reached base safely in 38 of 44 video games, going 61-for-171 (. 357) for the most effective common within the majors because the starting of June.
Gurriel’s .310 batting common is third within the American League behind Minnesota’s Luis Arraez (. 333) and Cleveland’s Andres Gimenez (. 312).
The Blue Jays designated outfielder Bradley Zimmer for task to make room for Springer.
Baltimore starter Kyle Bradish went 4 2/3 innings, yielding three runs on six hits with 4 walks and 5 strikeouts. Reliever Bryan Baker (4-3) was awarded the win.
The Blue Jays now are 15-11 since Schneider changed Charlie Montoyo as supervisor.
TORONTO EYES TSUTSUGO
Schneider confirmed the Blue Jays are near signing Yoshi Tsutsugo to a minor-league deal. The outfielder/first baseman was launched by the Pittsburgh Pirates final week.
UP NEXT
Blue Jays ace Alek Manoah (12-5) will face righty Dean Kremer (4-4) within the second sport of the three-game tilt towards Baltimore on Tuesday. Manoah is 1-0 in two begins with a no-decision towards the Orioles in 2022, and 2-0 in 5 profession begins.
This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed Aug. 15, 2022.
© 2022 The Canadian Press
