Blue Jays drop series finale against Rangers after shaky Jose Berrios start
Texas clubs 15 hits, scores 10 times as Berrios, Varland have rough afternoons on mound for Toronto
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Jose Berrios couldn’t shut the door with two outs in the fourth inning Sunday and it cost the Blue Jays a series sweep.
Toronto was coming off a stirring comeback win Friday and a 14-2 rout of the Texas Rangers Saturday, but fell behind early and never got the offence in gear against a quality opposing starter.
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Blue Jays drop series finale against Rangers after shaky Jose Berrios start Back to video
The visiting bullpen hit a bit of a speed bump again, but with a six-run cushion giving up a couple of runs and some walks in the eighth inning didn’t impact things much.
Here are three takeaways from a winnable game that instead went 10-4 to the visitors:
NO WAY, JOSE
Berrios could have had a far different afternoon at Rogers Centre had he shown more of a killer instinct.
While the veteran has not looked to be in top form at times this season, Toronto’s opening day starter still entered the game with a 9-4 record (including 4-1 at home) and 3.74 ERA.
The right-hander only lasted 4 1/3 innings, giving up 10 hits and six earned runs with only two strikeouts. His Achilles heel was his work with two strikes. Other than Marcus Semien’s two-run home run in the second inning, Berrios could well have limited the damage and lasted into the sixth inning or beyond.
But when Semien struck again in the fourth with a two-out double, followed by a Jake Burger RBI single, Berrios had managed two strikes on both batters and needed only one more to end the inning. He couldn’t get it either time and actually went ahead 0-2 on both Cody Freeman and Jonah Heim, but could not retire either, giving up a double and a single.
Texas then ran itself out of the inning when Josh Smith tried to stretch a line drive off the wall into a double but was erased by a bullet from strong-armed Addison Barger.
Had the game stayed 2-1, Corey Seager’s solo home run an inning later probably wouldn’t have spelled the end of the day for Berrios.
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The workhorse said nothing is physically bothering him, but rather his opponents just did a better job with two strikes than him.
The club will soon have the option of giving him some time off, though, by going to a six-man rotation. Shane Bieber won’t pitch in the series in Pittsburgh that starts Monday, but is expected to do so in Miami, perhaps on Friday, though manager John Schneider said post-game that nothing has been determined beyond the Pirates series.
Berrios said while an extra day off is always welcomed, he cautioned that it will make it a bit harder (he used the term “different”) to re-adjust to shorter amounts of days off once the playoffs begin.
“Whatever they want for us (in terms of the rotation), I’d be able to do it,” Berrios said while adding he’s looking forward to adding Bieber to the mix.
“He’s ready. He’s healthy, so he’s ready to help us to make the goal, to accomplish the goal.”
Berrios said of his own status moving forward: “I’m fresh, I’m healthy, so just turn the page and be ready for (the next opponents).
“I think I’ve just got to make better pitches.”
THE BRIGHT SPOTS
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at least got another sellout crowd excited with a first-pitch homer to left with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, part of a strong game from the all-star first baseman.
The blast went 439 feet to left centre field and he also singled on a similar splitter from Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi, who has had a tremendous season.
Guerrero and Alejandro Kirk, who hit a solo home run of his own in the bottom of the second inning, have both had plenty of success against Eovaldi in their careers. Guerrero entered the game 10-for-24 (.417) against him, while Kirk had gone 6-for-11 (.545).
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Bo Bichette went 2-for-3 against Eovaldi and had hit .346 against him in 10 games before Sunday.
The trio actually combined for all five Jays hits against Eovaldi in his seven strong innings.
Other bright spots for the Jays on the day included a George Springer homer in the eighth after a pinch-hit Myles Straw infield single and the Marlins rallying at Fenway Park with three runs in the ninth to stun the Red Sox. That prevented Boston from gaining any ground on the Jays, who remained five games in front in the American League East.
A Detroit loss in Minnesota also kept the team in first in the AL by percentage points.
VARLAND’S ROUGH PATCH
Louis Varland was a marquee trade deadline acquisition by the Jays and only surrendered a run in one of his first six appearances with the club, striking out eight in those 6.2 innings, but things changed this weekend.
On Friday, after catching Rowdy Tellez looking with a 97-m.p.h. fastball, Varland threw a first-pitch slider Friday to Semien and it went 393 feet over the wall, nearly costing Toronto the game.
Varland has thrown the slider on only 6.4% of his pitches this season, but Semien was ready for it and made him pay.
On Sunday after a couple of 98-m.ph. fastballs, Varland went with his knuckle curve (he throws the curve 38% of the time versus the fastball at 44.7%) and Evan Carter took it out of the park.
Suddenly, one of the stingiest relievers in baseball has been getting hit hard. He had surrendered only three home runs all season before joining the Jays and none since April 29.
X: @WolstatSun
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