Instant Reaction: Blue Jays’ offensive struggles continue in 2-1 loss to Royals

Takeaways…

There wasn’t much starter Shane Bieber could have done in this loss. Sure, he gave up two home runs, but going six and one-third of two-run ball should be enough to give the Jays a chance to win. Sadly, the offence sputtered again.

Simply put, the Blue Jays’ offence is anemic right now. Coming into Saturday’s game, their 26 wRC+ since Monday was by far the worst in the league, and it wasn’t much better in this game. Overall, they finished with four hits, but struggled mightily against the Royals’ starter, Noah Cameron.

Before Daulton Varsho’s solo home run that knocked Cameron out of the game, the Blue Jays had eight two-strike counts, managing to foul off five two-strike pitches. When they’re at their best, they’re making the pitcher work, and they just didn’t do that on Saturday.

Well, that was until the eighth. Once Taylor Clark came into the game in the top of the eighth, the Jays got into three different two-strike counts, managing to foul the ball off three times in two-strike counts. In the ninth, there was only one two-strike count, with Alejandro Kirk fouling off three two-pitch strikes. It’s a moral victory, I guess.

Since Monday, the Blue Jays have had more than five hits in just one game, on Tuesday. This was the fourth consecutive game that they finished with four or fewer hits, so no wonder they’re on a four-game losing streak, their largest losing streak since late April.

Varsho’s home run was his first since September 3rd. Coming into this game from September 6th until September 19th, he had a 56 wRC+. Getting his bat back on track would be a big help to this Blue Jays’ offence.

With Bieber going six and one-third, the bullpen got some rest. Mason Fluharty pitched two-thirds of an inning, with two runners reaching, one on an error that should’ve been an inning-ending double play, and one on a hit by pitch. Thankfully, the lefty struck out the next batter before Myles Straw made a terrific catch to end the inning.

Jeff Hoffman got the final three outs for the Blue Jays in the bottom of the eighth, getting a lineout, a forceout after a walk, and a flyout. As bad as the results were on Saturday, at least the Jays’ bullpen will be rested going into the series finale on Sunday.

So how did those results play out for the Jays? Well, the New York Yankees won, cutting the Jays’ division lead to just two games with seven games remaining. The Boston Red Sox also made up ground with a 6-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays, while the Seattle Mariners defeated the Houston Astros for the second consecutive game. Five wins earn the Blue Jays the division and the best record in the American League, but there is a lot less runway than there was entering this series.

It’s not must-win territory just yet, but if the Blue Jays lose Sunday’s game, there’s a chance their division lead drops to just one game (with the tiebreaker). Sunday’s game starts at 2:10 PM ET, with Trey Yesavage making his second career start.