MLB: Toronto Blue Jays at Baltimore Orioles

Recap: Orioles 3, Blue Jays 2; The Offense Took the Early Flight Home

What a terrible series and game for the Blue Jays. Things started out looking great, with a 1-0 lead after the first two batters of the game. However, the Blue Jays wound up only scoring two runs in the first inning, and did nothing after that. As easy as it is to blame John Gibbons for his questionable bullpen management, the bullpen for blowing the lead, or Marco Estrada for not lasting more than five innings, the offense was most at fault here. You won’t win many games when you only get four hits.

Top Play of the Game by WPA

After Pat Venditte loaded the bases with one out in the seventh inning, Brett Cecil came on to face J.J. Hardy. Aside from not having the platoon advantage, this was strange because Cecil should have been warming at the start of the inning. Instead Venditte was tasked with a second inning of work against the middle of the Orioles lineup. This resulted in the Orioles scoring a run, tying the game, and it set up the highest WPA play of the game the following inning in the eighth.

Cecil was still pitching, this time against Manny Machado, with a runner on second base thanks to a single and a passed ball from Russell Martin. Machado promptly hit an RBI double to give the Orioles a 3-2 lead, and increasing their chances of winning by 22.8%.

Bottom Play of the Game by WPA

The Orioles best chance to break this game open came in right away in the first inning when they loaded the bases against a struggling Marco Estrada. He couldn’t control his fastball at all, but was able to get out of it while limiting the damage to one run thanks to a gorgeous 3-6-1 double play started by Justin Smoak. Matt Wieters hit a sharp ground ball to first, Smoak picked it and threw to Tulo covering second, who tossed it back to Estrada for the double play. The sequence ended the Orioles’ chance of scoring that inning, and lowered their win probability by fifteen percentage points.

Offense Continues to Leave Runners On

It was another night full of missed opportunities for the Blue Jays, as they went 0-8 with runners in scoring position. As a team, they have hit just .217 in those situations this season, which ranks 22nd in the league. Last year, when the Blue Jays ranked first in virtually every offensive category, they batted .286 with runners in scoring position, and as a result, were able to score a lot more runs. These guys are too good to continue to not hit, but with every passing day the concern grows larger and larger.

Trend to Watch

Michael Saunders registered another two hits on Thursday night, giving him eight in his five games as the Blue Jays leadoff hitter. For the season he is batting .321/.390/.509, and has been one of a few Blue Jays that has been consistently helping the team. After a year in which he struggled to stay on the field because of a freak injury to his knee, it looks like Saunders may finally be doing what so many hoped he would do away from Safeco Field. He has used the entire field a lot more often this year, which could just be a factor of small sample size, but could also signify a change in approach at the plate. Whatever he’s doing, it’s been working, and if he can stay healthy and keep it up, he’ll be in line for a nice pay day at the end of the year when he enters free agency.

Up Next

After a rough road series in Baltimore, the Blue Jays are set to return home this weekend and face the Oakland Athletics for three games. On Friday night, it’s a battle of the aces, as Sonny Gray takes on Aaron Sanchez (too soon?). As expected, Gray has had a good start to the season, going 2-1 with a 2.33 ERA. Sanchez has been a revelation for the Blue Jays, with a 1.35 ERA and a groundball percentage of 59.2%. First pitch is set for 7:07 PM at the Rogers Centre.

Lead Photo: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

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