Kevin Gausman and Blue Jays lack sharpness and a killer instinct in loss to A's

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The Blue Jays nearly blew a big lead in Friday night’s series opener in Sacramento before holding off the host Athletics.

In the second of a three-game set, the A’s responded to an early 2-0 Blue Jays advantage and would emerge as the better team Saturday night in a 4-3 win.

The series rubber match will be played Sunday.

The Jays weren’t clean in the loss, couldn’t generate much offence and as a result they didn’t give themselves a shot of at least being assured of winning a sixth consecutive series.

Trailing 4-2, the Jays were poised to stage a rally in the eighth with a leadoff walk, a double and a sacrifice fly, but swinging strikeouts by Addison Barger and Leo Jimenez limited the visitors to only one run.

Toronto also threatened in the ninth when pinch-hitter Joey Loperfido led off with a walk and was sacrificed to second. But once again back-to-back strikeouts by Ernie Clement and George Springer against fire-balling closer Mason Miller ended the game.

The following are three takeaways on a night the A’s would end their five-game losing streak to the Blue Jays, who maintained their two-game cushion atop the AL East following an earlier Yankees loss to the Cubs.

1. The Gausman grind

After leaving behind a June swoon with three consecutive quality starts, Kevin Gausman’s five-inning 19th start of the season was an uneven step back.

The veteran right-hander produced clean innings in the second and fourth but otherwise allowed too much traffic on the basepaths in the others.

He got out of an early jam in the first but wasn’t as fortunate in the third and fifth innings, when A’s slugger Brent Rooker tagged him for an RBI double and a two-run homer — his 20th of the season — that gave the A’s a 4-2 lead.

With his pitch total up to 96, Gausman was replaced by Tommy Nance, making his season debut, to start the sixth.

After striking out nine Angels in his previous start last weekend, Gausman managed only two against the A’s.

2. Error of his ways

For the most part, Tyler Heineman has given the Blue Jays his all, whether it’s behind the plate or at it.

He’s no Danny Jansen, whose presence, combined with Alejandro Kirk, allowed the club to have one of baseball’s best catching tandems.

It’s no knock on the 35-year-old Heineman to say he’s a serviceable backup, even as his .329 average in 82 at-bats this season is easily the best of his career.

But when he does get the start, as he did Saturday, Heineman needs to be better.

The game wasn’t even three innings old when Heineman was called for two catcher interference calls — the second one figuring in prominently in the A’s two-run third inning — and was charged with a throwing error.

The Jays have flourished for a variety of reasons, including their ability to avoid self-inflicted damage. Heineman was the primary culprit Saturday as witnessed by his three early-inning errors.

On the plus side, he did throw out A’s leadoff hitter Lawrence Butler, who drew a walk to begin the fifth inning, attempting to steal second base.

3. Milestone moments

In the series opener, Max Scherzer earned his first win with the Blue Jays and his first anywhere in nearly a year, while Vladimir Guerrero Jr. became the 10th player in club history to reach 1,000-career hits.

On Saturday, infielder Leo Jimenez produced his own milestone moment when he slugged his first home run of the season with two outs in the second.

Jimenez, who hit four homers in 179 at-bats as a rookie last season, belted his 402-foot blast to left-centre off A’s lefty starter Jacob Lopez.

It also represented the first homer the Jays hit at Sutter Health Park, a minor-league venue that serves as the temporary home for the Athletics.

Unfortunately, that meant Nathan Lukes, who grew up in the Sacramento area, was not in the lineup, even though he had a solid game hitting leadoff Friday against a right-handed starter.

Lukes turned 31 yesterday and he did enter the game as a pinch-hitter with one out in the seventh inning.

Up next

The final game before the all-star break promises to be stifling hot with first pitch scheduled at 4:05 p.m. ET as RHP Jose Berrios looks to earn his sixth win of the season. The Jays will face a left-hander for the second game in a row in Jeffrey Springs … Regardless of the day’s outcome, the Jays will enter the break atop the AL East for the first time since 1993.