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Blue Jays' homestand finale marred by disastrous first inning
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    Blue Jays’ homestand finale marred by disastrous first inning

    TORONTO — Over the past few years Rogers Centre was a prime spot during summer weekends in Toronto. There was compelling, meaningful baseball full of excitement. But with this being a lost season for the club, the fan experience is inevitably being impacted.

    Saturday’s game against the Oakland Athletics drew just over 34,000 people and another 38,797 showed up for Sunday’s series finale. Those are big crowds and while they were disappointed on Saturday with the home club being limited to just two hits in a shutout loss, Sunday’s game was even more painful to watch.

    Sure, the Blue Jays mustered up a meaningless late rally, but the A’s essentially put the game away in the early innings of an 8-4 victory. Adding to the misery of the home side was that Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went 0-for-4, ending his hit streak at 22 games. Had he extended the streak on Sunday, he would have set a new career high.

    The Athletics immediately jumped on Chris Bassitt in the first inning, hammering him with a quick-strike offence that led to an imposing lead. Lawrence Butler opened the game with a double, Brent Rooker singled and JJ Bleday drove them in with a home run to right-centre field. Bassitt then hit Seth Brown with a pitch and then, after striking out Abraham Toro, allowed a two-run shot to Zack Gelof.

    The A’s continued the assault, sending a total of 11 batters to the plate and eliciting boos from the crowd. By the time the inning was mercifully over, Bassitt had allowed six runs and expended 41 pitches. Three of the hits he surrendered featured exit velocities over 100 m.p.h. with another registering at 99.1.

    Bassitt had no choice but to turn his focus to salvaging innings in order to preserve as much of the bullpen as possible with the Blue Jays heading to California for a three-game set with the Los Angeles Angels beginning Monday. The right-hander covered three more frames, allowing one more run on Bleday’s RBI single in the fourth.

    In total, Bassitt allowed seven runs on eight hits across four innings. He hit one batter, walked two and struck out five.

    Meanwhile, A’s starter JP Sears stifled Blue Jays hitters for the first seven innings, with Daulton Varsho’s fourth-inning solo home run — his 14th of the season — coming as the only real damage against the left-hander.

    Sears was cruising until the eighth, when he walked Spencer Horowitz and Davis Schneider to open the frame. He was replaced by Oakland reliever Michel Otañez, who was tagged by Blue Jays rookie Luis De Los Santos for a two-run double down the right-field line. De Los Santos singled earlier in the game for his first major-league hit.

    George Springer also drove in two runs during the eighth-inning rally, but the hill proved too steep for the Blue Jays to climb.

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    The Toronto Blue Jays’ homestand finale was off to a rocky start as they faced off against the New York Yankees on Sunday afternoon. The game was marred by a disastrous first inning that saw the Yankees jump out to an early lead, ultimately leading to a 7-2 loss for the Blue Jays.

    The trouble began in the top of the first inning when Blue Jays starting pitcher, Ross Stripling, struggled to find his rhythm. He gave up a leadoff double to DJ LeMahieu, followed by a walk to Aaron Judge. The Yankees quickly capitalized on the opportunity, with Giancarlo Stanton hitting a three-run home run to give them an early 3-0 lead.

    Things only went downhill from there for the Blue Jays, as Stripling continued to struggle on the mound. He gave up another run in the first inning and two more in the second, putting the Blue Jays in a deep 6-0 hole early in the game.

    Despite some solid pitching from the Blue Jays’ bullpen and a late rally in the eighth inning that saw them score two runs, it was too little too late for Toronto. The Yankees held on to their lead and ultimately secured the win.

    The loss was a disappointing end to what had been a successful homestand for the Blue Jays, who had won five of their previous six games. The team will now hit the road for a series against the Baltimore Orioles, hoping to bounce back from this tough loss and continue their push for a playoff spot.

    Overall, the Blue Jays’ homestand finale was marred by a disastrous first inning that proved to be too much for them to overcome. Despite the setback, the team remains optimistic about their chances moving forward and will look to regroup as they continue their push towards the postseason.