Just an awful game, Jays lose to Mariners

Mariners 14 Blue Jays 5

I guess there are going to be games like this. That was just awful. Couldn’t pitch. Couldn’t field. Couldn’t hit. And there isn’t all the much more to baseball.

It was one of those games where every ball off a Mariners’ bat seemed to just avoid Jays’ gloves (or, if it found a glove, it would pop right out).

R.A. Dickey’s first couple of innings went pretty well. Pitched around a dropped line drive that Josh Donaldson really should have had (called a hit not an error because?). Second inning, there was a single and a walk, but a nice double play and a strikeout and that was that.

Then came the third inning. A single, then what should have been a double play, but turned into only a force out. Then consecutive hit batters by R.A., both of which the batter could have avoided without any trouble. Then Nelson Cruz hits a grand slam (hit first of 2 homers on the day).

The fourth inning went single, walk, single (not really a single, a line drive that Troy Tulowitzki had in and out of his glove, on a ball that would have been an easy double play, Dickey could have used the help) and that was it for Dickey. 3.0, 7 hits, 6 earned, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, 1 home run.

Franklin Morales came in and pitched 2 good innings. That’s the only time you will see ‘good’ in reference to a Blue Jay in this game. Actually, Bo Schultz was also pretty good in his 1.1. And Joe Biagini pitched a scoreless ninth, with the help of an amazing catch by Kevin Pillar.

Jesse Chavez followed Morales and gave up 6 hits, 5 of which were just a stride or two out of reach for fielders. The other was a home run. Jesse was pulled after 2 outs and 5 earned.

And Drew Storen gave up 3 more runs (on Nelson Cruz’ second homer of the day, Cruz had 7 RBI on the day).

On offense, we didn’t do much either. 8 hits, 3 walks, 5 runs, most of which came after the game was decided.

In the second, Kevin Pillar scored from third on a short fly ball, great speed, great slide, giving Josh Thole an RBI. That gave us a lead that we held for about 5 minutes.

Two runs were on Michael Saunders solo home runs (1 in the sixth, 1 in the 8th), both against lefties.

Michael Smoak also hit a 2 run homer in the 8th, just so I had to add an extra line to the recap.

That was about it. I guess Donaldson tried to lean into a pitch, but a bit to blatantly, and he wasn’t given first base. And he also hit one to the track with 2-out in the ninth.

Former Jay Wade LeBlanc pitched 3 innings of relief.

Jays of the Day: None. Let’s give honorable mention for Travis, for a 3 for 4, and Saunders for the 2 home runs. And Morales for the 2 innings of scoreless relief.

Suckage: Dickey gets the award, -.406 WPA. Let’s give an honorary one to Chavez and Storen.

Erik H led the way in a rather quiet GameThread.