Jun 5, 2018
The Mitchell Report: Estrada’s stellar outing wasted by bullpen, bats
Marco Estrada was on his way to pitching the Blue Jays to a much-needed win in the series opener against the Yankees but then Seunghwan Oh came into the game and gave up three earned runs in just one inning of relief and Toronto fell to New York 7-2 on Tuesday night. TSN Baseball Reporter Scott Mitchell provides his key takeaways from the game.
Marco Estrada was on his way to pitching the Blue Jays to a much-needed win in the series opener against the Yankees but then Seunghwan Oh came into the game and gave up three earned runs in just one inning of relief and Toronto fell to New York 7-2 at Rogers Centre on Tuesday night. TSN Baseball Reporter Scott Mitchell provides his key takeaways from the game:
GAME 60, JUNE 5: YANKEES at JAYS
RESULT: 7-2 loss
RECORD: 26-34
STREAK: L1
1— Estrada in complete control over six innings
It looked like Marco Estrada was on his way to pitching his team to a much-needed win in the series opener against the Yanks, leaving the game after a leadoff single to start the seventh inning with zeros on the board.
In the end, Estrada went six-plus innings, allowing six hits and one earned run — we’ll get to that shortly — while flashing the best changeup he’s shown in some time.
The 34-year-old righty tossed 40 of them, getting nine swings and misses to keep an Aaron Judge-less New York off balance all night.
The most important aspect of Estrada’s outing, other than avoiding the long ball, which has been a problem, was the fact he didn’t issue a free pass.
Estrada will take a 5.29 ERA with him to the hill Sunday against the Baltimore Orioles, the final game of this six-game homestand.
2—Oh implodes to help waste Estrada’s strong start
The reason Estrada’s zero didn’t stand up was because Seunghwan Oh came into the game and fell apart.
Oh immediately plunked Didi Gregorius on the foot and walked Aaron Hicks to load the bases, before rookie Miguel Andujar cleared them with his first-career grand slam, charging Estrada with a run in the process due to the leadoff single.
That quickly turned a 1-0 lead into a 4-1 deficit, and the Yanks piled it on from there.
Oh has now allowed a whopping six earned runs over his last two appearances, jumping his ERA from 2.13 all the way to 4.00.
3—Hernandez returns to lineup with a bang
Unlike many of the aging Jays who seem to have trouble returning to health once they’re banged up, 25-year-old Teoscar Hernandez needed only a couple of days to recover from fouling a ball off his foot Saturday in Detroit.
Back in the leadoff spot against southpaw CC Sabathia, Hernandez lofted his ninth home run of the season into the Jays’ bullpen in the sixth inning to open the scoring.
Hernandez finished the night 1-for-4 and is now sporting an .825 OPS this season.
Kevin Pillar provided the rest of the offence with his own solo homer, his fifth of the season, as the Jays could only muster three hits all night.
4—Tough night for bottom of the lineup
Comparing the depth of the Yankees and Jays lineups is a bit comical.
Whereas the Yanks had Andujar and another sensational young player in second baseman Gleyber Torres hitting seventh and ninth, respectively, the bottom of the Jays order has become a deep, dark hole.
On Tuesday, manager John Gibbons’ 6-7-8-9 hitters combined to go 0-for-12 with five strikeouts, a common occurrence this season.
Those four hitters are Russell Martin (.170), Randal Grichuk (.115), Aledmys Diaz (.216), and Devon Travis (.194).
When you add in Tuesday’s cleanup hitter, Kendrys Morales, and his .188 average, you can see why the Jays have struggled to score runs.
5—Home woes continue for Jays
Not long ago, thanks to the raucous environment and a rejuvenated fan base, Rogers Centre was a tough place to play.
It’s been the exact opposite this season.
With attendance down significantly, the Jays have given fans very little reason to come back, limping to a 12-18 mark at home, and suffering through some epic blowups and late losses in the process.
Overall, the Jays have now gone 31 games without consecutive wins, tied for the third-longest stretch in team history.
UP NEXT: RHP Sonny Gray (4-4, 5.50) vs. RHP Sam Gaviglio (2-1, 3.32) on Wednesday, 7:07 p.m.
VLAD JR. WATCH: After turning an ankle Saturday and sitting out Sunday, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. returned to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats’ lineup Tuesday, going 0-for-4 in a 13-3 loss to the Akron RubberDucks (Cleveland). The oh-fer dropped Guerrero’s average to .401, and he has just three hits in his last 19 at-bats.