Guardians Blank Jays 8-0

For the team leading the Wild Card race, the Jays haven’t looked much like it in the last three games. An embarrassing pair of losses were blunted by a rainstorm which postponed the potential sweep with the final game in Baltimore, and heading home, the Jays were hoping Rogers Centre would help rejuvenate Jose Berrios. Unfortunately, after a couple of uneventful innings, the Guardians jumped all over Berrios’ inconsistency and some lucky breaks to score 5 runs and put the Jays into a significant hole early. In all, he’d allow 8 runs while Quantrill and the bullpen cruised into an 8-0 three hit shutout.

Berrios and Quantrill traded zeroes the first couple of innings, added by some excellent defense on the part of both teams to keep things even. In the top of the third, Berrios got Jones quickly, but hit Hedges and then gave up back to back singles, the second on a bunt that stayed just fair on the third base line. Rosario singled in a pair of runs to put Cleveland up by 2, and a sacrifice fly by Ramirez made it 3-0. Berrios left a pitch out over the heart of the plate for a two run shot. Berrios nearly made it worse by hitting the next batter and then deflecting a grounder enough to allow the next batter to reach before ending the inning.

In the fourth, the trouble continued. Berrios walked a couple of batters, managed to get to 2 outs, before Ramirez took a pitch at his shoe tops over the right field wall for three more runs. The Jays roused themselves at the bottom of the inning with a one out double for Guerrero Jr but left him there with a couple of flyouts. Despite some hard contact, Quantrill held the Jays to one hit going into the eighth.

Pop and Richards managed to keep the Guardians off the board for an inning each. Thorton had some issues, especially with a just fair pop-up that dropped in just out of the reach of a diving Chapman and then an advance to third on a throw back to second that wasn’t cut properly, but managed a strikeout to end the inning. Cimber escaped a Naylor drive that Hernandez snagged to clear the eighth without allowing another run.

Morgan came in to replace Quantrill. He got two outs before Biggio hit one a couple of inches below the top of the wall for a double. In a distressingly common event these days, he was stranded there as Merrifield hit a fly out to left. Phelps pitched the ninth inning, allowing runners at first and second before getting the third out, leaving the Jays to start the 9-1-2 hitters in the bottom of the ninth.

Sandlin came in for the Guardians and Bradley promptly snuck the Jays third hit through the middle of the diamond. Schneider decided to play the lefty-righty matchup with Zimmer (or had just given up and wanted to try and keep people as fresh as possible). Zimmer actually got decent wood on a pitch but it was run down in the alley for an out. Vladdy mercifully ended the game with a double play ground out.

Jay of the Day: George Springer, because he didn’t contribute at all to this disaster

Suckage: Berrios, who is starting to look dire right now in the first year of his 7 year deal.

Game two will see Mitch White in his second start as a Jay against Triston McKenzie in an afternoon game starting at 3:05ET tomorrow.