That Was Awful

Blue Jays 3 Nationals 9

This one started well.

Yusei Kikuchi was terrific. Six innings, 6 hits, 1 earned, 1 walk, and 7 strikeouts. He was untouchable for most of his time out there. He, so much, deserved better.

And we got three runs in the second:

• Danny Jansen walked.
• Davis Schneider doubled.
• Daulton Varsho doubled in two.
• Isiah Kiner Falefa singled, but Varsho didn’t get to third, as he had to wait to see if the liner fell.
• Ernie Clement put down a bunt. I’m not a fan of the bunt, but it was a good one. The problem with bunting in the second is you have no idea if one run will be important. Playing for a run, late in the game, you know if that one run is important. Playing for a run in the second inning might, retroactively, look dumb later when you lose by (just for example) 6.
• George Springer hit a sac fly, and we were up 3-0

A fan of any other team would think, ‘Hey, we scored 3 runs in the second. We are going to have a big day’. Jays fans think, ‘Hey, we scored 3 in the second, that means will finish with 3 runs.’

At the end of two innings, we had 4 hits. We finished with 7 hits.

Unfortunately, Kikuchi couldn’t finish the game because this isn’t the 1960s.

Erik Swanson came in for the seventh. His night went walk, single, home run and we were down 4-3.

Tim Mayza replaced him with the bases empty. His night went single, wild pitch, lineout, RBI double. It was 5-3 Nationals. And there was just one out.

Zach Pop got a pair of ground outs, and the inning was over.

The next contestant in the ‘Can anyone in this bullpen get an out?’ was Génesis Cabrera. He walked the first batter of the eighth. a steal and sac bunt put the runner on third. An intentional walk gave us a shot at a double play. A walk loaded the bases. Jesse Winker lined out to IKF, and with the runner at first well off first, it looked like we were out of the inning. But with Vlad running to first, IKF threw just behind him, and Vlad couldn’t change directions quickly enough, and it got by him; two more runs would score.

An Ernie Clement ‘error’ (it wasn’t an error; CJ Abrams is fast, and it was a tough play, but the official scorer disagrees) brought in Washington’s 8th run. Back-to-back singles made it 9-3.

Trevor Richards came in and got the last out.

Jays of the Day: Kikuchi (.270 WPA), and let’s give one to Clement (.080, plus some terrific defense).

Other Award: Swanson (-.563), Mayza (-.108), Springer (-.094, for an 0 for 4, with the sac fly), and Bichette (-.080 for an 0 for 4, k).

I said, during the game, that the Jays should pay Bo by the pitch thrown to him because he seems in a hurry to make an out most at-bats. He must have been out on the first pitch three times tonight.

If you care, tomorrow, we have Kevin Gausman (1-3, 4.50) and Jake Irwin (2-2, 4.28) pitching. It is a 4:00 Eastern start.

It is hard to understand; last year, our bullpen was the strength of the team. This year, not so much. Bullpens are like that.