Reigning American League MVP victor Josh Donaldson is set to undergo an MRI on his sore right hip after missing his third consecutive game for the Blue Jays. I know things are going to change. “We’re too good for it not to”.
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The Toronto Blue Jays continued their September swoon with a 8-1 drubbing at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Toronto has lost seven of their last 11 games against the Rays. Toronto had held sole possession of the division lead as recently as September 5.
“I thought he was good”, manager John Gibbons said.
“When I hit the base it was more some other things that were going on. I’m still optimistic that it will turn”.
Buckle up for an interesting finish to the season, as the Blue Jays will close with nine straight games against the Yankees (6) and Red Sox (3). Lefty Matt Dermody, though, gave up a two-run homer to Corey Dickerson, part of a three-run inning, as the Rays took command of the game.
Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Marcus Stroman throws against the Tampa Bay Rays during first inning American League baseball action in Toronto on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2016. Just like that, five pitches into the inning, Tampa had a 2-1 lead. But as the game wore on, the Blue Jays’ struggles began peeking through.
Tampa got on the board in the fifth with Ramirez’s three-run shot off Stroman. Toronto, which fell to 3-8 this month with Tuesday’s defeat, hasn’t done much to help its cause lately either while scoring three runs or fewer in six of its past eight.
Estrada maintained that despite the Blue Jays’ current state, no one in the clubhouse has given up – not yet, anyway.
“We’ve got to start winning some games, that’s for sure”, Gibbons said before this latest loss. “I don’t think anybody’s down”. He entered the game with just one hit in his last 11 at-bats.
It’s all part of the game, he said. “So we always know in the back of our mind we’re capable of hitting a deep ball, even if it’s late in the game or we’re behind by a little, that maybe we’ll come back”. We have to find a way to do it.
Donaldson wasn’t in the lineup on Wednesday for the third straight day.
“Hopefully I’ll be able to get back out there tomorrow”, Donaldson said after the game.
Atkins said that while the team has depth at third base – Darwin Barney can also play there and started at third for Monday and Tuesday’s games – he also doesn’t want to see Donaldson have to sit out an extended period.
“He’s more miserable than any player. that we’re in this hunt and he can’t contribute”.
Logan Forsythe finished the game 2-for-4. Marco Estrada wasn’t awful on Wednesday, but he wasn’t great either, finishing with four runs allowed on eight hits over 5.2 innings.
The Blue Jays had only two walks off Cobb after the first-inning hit by Travis until Dioner Navarro singled with one out in the seventh.
Remember various Maple Leafs 18-wheelers skidding off of the road and the infamous 1987 Blue Jays collapse?
Note to readers: This is a corrected version of an earlier story.
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Aaron Sanchez hasn’t been almost as effective either, and really hasn’t quite been the same since the Blue Jays started using a 6-man rotation/occasionally skipping his turn.
