Series Recap: Blue Jays lose final road series of the season to Royals

Although the Toronto Blue Jays have clinched a postseason berth, they lost ground after the weekend.

Beginning on Friday, the Blue Jays played a three-game series against the Kansas City Royals, dropping the first two games before winning on Sunday to officially clinch a spot in October baseball.

On the fifth pitch of the first plate appearance of Friday’s game, the Blue Jays took the lead as George Springer hit a lead-off home run. That was the high point of the game for the Jays, as the Royals countered with seven runs in the bottom of the first en route to a 20-1 victory. Not great.

Saturday’s game wasn’t a blowout like Friday’s game, but it was just as frustrating in a different way. The Royals hit back-to-back solo home runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 2-0 lead, with the Jays cutting the lead in half in the top of the seventh thanks to Daulton Varsho’s 19th home run of the season. That was all the scoring, as the Blue Jays failed to clinch.

Thankfully, the Blue Jays clinched on Sunday with an 8-5 victory. For the first time in a while, the Blue Jays had a big inning, scoring three runs in the top of the second. After the Royals cut the Jays’ lead to one, the Jays responded with another three-run inning. There was some controversy in the bottom of the fifth as Daulton Varsho clearly caught a fly ball, but after review, it was deemed inconclusive. The Royals scored twice that inning, followed by another run in the bottom of the sixth, before the Jays added two more runs in the top of the eighth.

Like the series against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Jays had another quiet series offensively against the Royals. Springer hit a home run in the first plate appearance of the series and went on to finish with a 292 wRC+ in 13 plate appearances. The only other Blue Jay to finish with a wRC+ above 100 was Andrés Giménez, who slashed .286/.375/.571.

As for the other regulars, Varsho had an 87 wRC+, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a 58 wRC+, Ernie Clement had a 54 wRC+, Davis Schneider had a 41 wRC+, Alejandro Kirk had a 4 wRC+, and Addison Barger had a -7 wRC+. None of their bench players had a great week either. Tyler Heineman had an 87 wRC+, Myles Straw had a 37 wRC+, Ty France had a -14 wRC+, while Nathan Lukes, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Joey Loperfido had a -100 wRC+.

Shane Bieber had a good start, pitching six and one-third innings with two runs allowed. Max Scherzer had a horrific start, giving up seven earned runs in just two-thirds of an inning. Trey Yesavage sat somewhere in the middle, giving up four earned runs in four + innings pitched, but pitching much better than the scoreline suggests.

Despite giving up 14 runs in the three games, the bullpen had a solid series. That’s because 10 of those runs belonged to Tyler Heineman, who pitched in Friday’s blowout game. As did Tommy Nance, who gave up three earned runs in two innings. The other reliever to give up a run was Brendon Little, who let two inherited runners come in to score, as well as a runner of his own.

Jeff Hoffman pitched two scoreless innings, while Seranthony Domínguez, Mason Fluharty, Yariel Rodríguez, Eric Lauer, and Braydon Fisher all pitched scoreless outings. With the off-day, the bullpen should be rested enough for the remaining six games.

To clinch the American League East and the best record in the American League, the Blue Jays need to go 4-2 before needing help from other teams. First up is a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox, beginning on Tuesday evening.