The Toronto Blue Jays continued their September swoon with a 8-1 drubbing at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays.
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Donaldson could, of course, return as soon as Thursday night, against the Angels in Anaheim.
Toronto was without its best player, Josh Donaldson, for the entire series against the Rays. This might be why the Jays tried to be cool about their ailing star early in the week – because no one really wanted to consider the alternative.
Asked if he expected a sustained absence, the GM would only say that it depends on the results of the medical tests.
Tampa Bay Rays’ Kevin Kiermaier, right, celebrates his two run home run against the Toronto Blue Jays with teammate Logan Forsythe during the fourth inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2016.
Blue Jays: Donaldson said his sore hip has been bothering him for some time.
On offence, Devon Travis led off the game with a double to extend his hit streak to 11 games and was then sacrificed to third base on a bunt by Michael Saunders. If Donaldson, who is clubbing.280/.400/.552 with 34 home runs and 92 RBIs in 2016, can’t be out there for this crucial stretch of the season, it’s obviously a big concern. With the Rays occupying the dank, dusty basement of the division by a large margin and the Jays fighting for the AL East title with the BoSox, every game counts for Toronto and none of them really do for Tampa Bay. The Rays have hit at least one home run in 16 of their 18 meetings with Toronto this season.
Before his hitless stretch, Donaldson was batting.295 with a.407 on-base percentage and a.574 slugging percentage, numbers that compared favourably to his production over his MVP season a year ago:.297/.371/.568.
“However… It takes a team to win”.
That MVP award is appropriately named, it would seem. The Jays head west for games against Los Angeles and Seattle, during which time their AL East rivals will all be playing each other.
The Blue Jays are flat, which is shocking considering the time of year and what is at stake. Which means, mostly, they need their bats.
Alex Cobb held the suddenly AWOL offence in check over 6.1 innings and one-time ace Marco Estrada took the loss for a third straight start (and fifth in six appearances since August 9). Toronto touched him up for all of two hits over 6 2/3 innings on Wednesday.
In the ninth, the Rays got an insurance run after relievers Matt Dermody and Scott Feldman combined to load the bases on a single and a pair of walks, eventually allowing Dickerson to score on leadoff man Logan Forsythe’s slow roller to short.
“Yesterday, I would have said no, but the fact that it’s lingering, we’ll know more after we get an MRI”, Atkins said. “It just amazes me for a guy who’s been off the mound that much, how around the zone he is, able to hit spots with his pitches”.
These are not great slogans for your pennant-race T-shirts.
Marco Estrada (8-9) allowed four runs and four hits in 5 1/3 innings. “Things are gonna change”, he said.
Atkins also acknowledged Donaldson’s frustrations: “He’s more miserable than any player right now that exists that we’re in this hunt and he can’t contribute”.
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Last season at this time, everyone in town was comparing the Toronto lineup to the mashers of 1993.
