Instant Reaction: Early inning runs sink Blue Jays in 7-1 loss to White Sox

The Jays scored their only run in the bottom of the eighth, as Tyler Heineman drew a lead-off walk, advanced to second on a shallow sacrifice fly, and was driven in by Bo Bichette. At least they ruined the shutout.

Takeaways…

The need for pitching ahead of next month’s trade deadline is becoming increasingly evident. As it stands, the Blue Jays have two spots in their rotation that are questionable, including Spencer Turnbull’s spot in the rotation.

This evening, Turnbull retired six outs, giving up four earned runs in two innings, walking and striking out two to bring his season ERA to 7.11. At a certain point, these bullpen games are going to wear out a pitcher, but you can expect Max Scherzer to start the next time this spot comes up. Eric Lauer has also been pitching well in one of the rotation spots.

Mason Fluharty had a rough game, giving up three earned runs while striking out three and walking two in an inning of work, bringing his season ERA to 4.55. Nick Sandlin made his return, allowing a double but striking out a batter in his scoreless inning. Chad Green, Brendon Little, and Jeff Hoffman all pitched scoreless innings, with Little striking out two.

Braydon Fisher also made an appearance, striking out four of the six batters he faced. When he comes out of the bullpen, he’s pitched 17.2 scoreless innings, allowing eight hits, two walks, and striking out 42.6% of batters. The Blue Jays have a dude.

As suspect as the pitching was in this game, the Blue Jays’ offence was not nearly good enough. Bo Bichette was by far their best batter, going 3-4 with a double and two singles. Ernie Clement had four plate appearances, finishing with two hits, both against lefties. George Springer and Nathan Lukes had the other two hits.

The Blue Jays grounded into two double plays, ending any chance at a rally. As a whole, they were 2-6 with runners in scoring position, with six runners left on.

They’ll be back in action on Saturday at 3:07 PM ET, as Jose Berrios is the expected starter for the Jays. The Blue Jays still have a chance to win the series, but they need to win against the bad teams.