The BlueJays have been walking an extremely fine line to this point in the season because of an often baffling inability to generate offence. And sometimes, one misplay is enough to sink the ship. (ArdenZwelling)
Jr. was called into his manager’s office for a chat. Justin Smoak, the Toronto Blue Jays first baseman, was battling a tight neck and wasn’t able to get it loose enough to play on a frigid, four-degree night. Charlie Montoyo had to shuffle his lineup. And he wanted Gurriel to shift over from second to first.
Flash forward to the fourth inning. Blue Jays starter Aaron Sanchez had allowed a pair of leadoff singles to Cleveland three-four hitters Jake Bauers and Carlos Santana, the first well struck, the second taking a nasty hop in front of shortstop Freddy Galvis and skipping into centre field. Then he walked Brad Miller on five pitches — one of the balls was well within the strike zone, to be fair — loading the bases. Not what you want.
A million other things contributed to that inning playing out the way it did. Sanchez left a pitch up to Bauers. Galvis couldn’t corral a grounder from Santana. Home plate umpire Manny Gonzalez didn’t help on the walk of Miller. And maybe Smoak doesn’t make that play at first, either. Maybe no one does. Maybe the Blue Jays had a legitimate complaint that Miller interfered with Gurriel as he passed by, or even strayed from the base path. It’s not on Gurriel.
Toronto’s pitching has had to essentially be perfect in order to give the team a chance to win, and it damn near has been. Blue Jays starters began the season with a 24-inning scoreless streak, and carried a 1.16 ERA — the fourth-best mark through seven games by any team since the mound was lowered in 1969 — into Thursday’s game. Toronto’s staff as a whole had pitched to a 2.05 ERA, setting a franchise record with 80 strikeouts through the first seven games of the season.
“I think we’re pressing right now. Just because everybody’s struggling at the same time. Every at-bat seems like it means so much to everybody that everybody’s trying to do too much,” Montoyo said. “So, we’ve got to find a way to relax and it starts by getting hits. It’s been a struggle the first eight games. But like I’ve said before, I know we’re going to find it.”
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