Disappointing

Rays 8 Blue Jays 1

Years ago, there was a story of a pitcher (Hall of Famer, whose name escapes me at the moment) who got roughed up in a game and lost something like 10 to 1. The reporters asked him what went wrong, and he said, ‘What are you going to do when your team only gets you one run?’.

Well, Alek Manoah’s teammates only got him one run.

Offensively, we were terrible. Just 5 hits, 2 doubles 3 singles. One run, in the first, George Springer walked, and singles from Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero brought him home. That was it for the offense.

We did get a couple of runners on in the eighth, Bo singled, and Vlad walked. Matt Chapman hit a long way (Baseball Savant says 388 feet), but just short of the wall in center, Alejandro Kirk struck out on a pitch on the outside corner.

Shane McClanahan has a 1.57 ERA this season for a reason. He threw 6 innings, allowing just 4 hits and 2 walks with 6 strikeouts.

Things went bad for Manoah right from the start. The first three batters reached, hit batter, walk and single. Another walk, and it is 1-0. After a strikeout, a single scored two more (Alek got robbed on a check swing that could have been strike three), and it was 3-0 before we got to bat.

And four more runs were scored in the fifth. It started well, with two strikeouts. Then a walk to Taylor Walls. Walls took off to steal second, Kirk made a nice throw, and he was called out. I thought it was a nice throw (and it was), but on replay, the tag was late.

That’s where the wheel came right off:

• Double, 4-1.
• Single, ground ball down the third base line. Matt Chapman had no chance to throw to first but thought he could get the tag at third. But he missed the pickup on the ball, and everyone was safe. It wasn’t an easy play, but it was one a third baseman of Matt’s ability should make.
• Home run, 7-1. Christain Bethancourt hit a ball 414 feet.
• One more single, and Manoah was out of the game.

Zack Pop walked two batters before ending the inning.

Tim Mayza pitched a scoreless inning, and Trevor Richards had two scoreless. Anthony Bass gave up a run in the ninth.

Jay of the Day: Oh, let’s give it to Vlad (.083 WPA) for a 1 for 3, walk and RBI. He did make one poor play on defense. A ground ball hit right at the second baseman, but Vlad ranged way over and then booted the ball. It would have been a tough play if he had come up with it. But if it left it for Espinal, it was a very easy play.

The Other Award: Manoah (-.338) and Chapman (-.098, plus the missed play at third).

Tomorrow the Astros come to town for three games. Kevin Gausman (1-1, 1.35) starts for the Jays. Cristian Javier (1-0, 4.24) starts for the Astros.

Getting the sweep would have been nice, but I guess two of three will do.

I played tennis this morning with people much better than me. Trying to play above my level is fun, and return serves that are hit harder than I normally see. I scheduled the GameThread to go up before the game and didn’t look to see if it had when I sat to watch it at the bar. It didn’t go up. Sorry about that.