Bullpen day doesn’t go the way of the Blue Jays in Trop’s latest flop

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At the very least, there is now another reason to look forward to a meeting between the Blue Jays and the Rays in the American League Division Series.

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The two teams concluded the season series yesterday with a rare 7-1 victory for the hometown Rays.

The result, and a New York Yankees victory over the Texas Rangers, pushed the Blue Jays midgame behind the Yankees for the second and final AL wild card.

But the talk after the game surrounded a hitter in the eighth inning, already decided on the game.

That the batter was Kevin Kiermaier, the same Ray who picked up a dropped data card belonging to Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk earlier in the series and surreptitiously handed it over to a Rays coaching staff only to get caught and have to admit that their actions turned. this one in a high level drama.

Jays reliever Ryan Borucki, who delivered the first pitch, nailing Kiermaier, vowed after the game that he missed his arm and the ball just slipped away.

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The Rays weren’t buying it.

Borucki was immediately thrown out of action despite defending his case to crew chief Joe West. West’s response according to Borucki was ‘You have to go’. “

Kiermaier, who was initially embarrassed when his initial action was exposed, was quite excited after the crash.

“I hope we face those guys (in the postseason). I really do, ”Kiermaier said. “I hope we face them… The motivation is there. That’s all there is to say. “

Borucki, who managed to hit Kiermaier exactly between the two numbers on the Rays center fielder’s back, said there was no intention on his part.

“I released it on Monday the same way,” Borucki said. “I threw myself inside against him. I wanted to change it this time and go to the arm side to start and then work my way through. It just didn’t work out that way. The ball slipped out of my hand and I accidentally hit it. “

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Manager Charlie Montoyo, who spent his entire coaching and managerial career in the Tampa Bay organization before joining Toronto, kept busy preventing an irate pitching coach Pete Walker from reaching West after Borucki’s expulsion.

“What tells you everything was Pete’s reaction,” Montoyo suggested later. “We didn’t want to use another pitcher. That’s why Pete was so upset … We didn’t want to use (Nate) Pearson. If you call that pitch, if you make that call, that’s what’s going to happen. “

Pearson ended up being the sixth pitcher the Blue Jays had to use that day in a game that, as mentioned, was almost decided.

IN THE GAME

Bullpen starts came true a few years ago in Tampa. Suffice to say, the Jays have yet to master this particular innovation.

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With Hyun Jin Ryu on the disabled list, the Blue Jays opted for a collective start among their relievers.

Hoping to get into the game was Julian Merryweather, who started the game for Toronto, could give them one and possibly two tickets and then pass things on to Ross Stripling, who could give them three or even four and avoid taxing an already bullpen. he was leaning toward fatigue with Jordan Romano and Trevor Richards having pitched in three of the last four games each.

It exploded in the Blue Jays’ faces when Merryweather and Stripling were out one out in the third and left the Blue Jays on a six-run hole.

Because the Blue Jays were playing a rare game on September day, the cost of this loss to their wild-card hopes would have to wait until the night’s results. After the Red Sox and Yankees won Wednesday night, the Red Sox are 2 1/2 games up over Toronto, and the Yankees are half a game ahead of the Blue Jays.

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THIRD BASE TAKES A SUCCESS

Breyvic Valera, who has been a constant presence in third place since Santiago Espinal’s injury, was placed on the COVID disabled list after being exposed to a family member who tested positive.

When the team announced the move, they included the information that Valera is doubly vaccinated and has not tested positive, but for the moment it left the Blue Jays somewhat understaffed.

In response to that, the team called up Kevin Smith from triple A Buffalo. There is a possibility that Espinal will return to the team during Minnesota’s four-game series that begins Thursday in Minneapolis.

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LOWERING THE STRETCH

Montoyo, while still raving about the drama of the endgame, was asked if he had a message for his players with the season now reduced to 10 games and a wild card there for the taking.

“This is the first series we’ve lost (in a while). We have won seven in a row, ”Montoyo said. “We are playing good baseball. Today our pitching struggled a bit and we were playing from behind, but we’ve been playing good baseball. They know what’s going on. “

So no, there are no great speeches by Montoyo. This one didn’t turn out as expected, but he still likes the way the Blue Jays are positioned and who can blame him.

Even with the Yankees win last night, the deficit for that last wild-card spot is just half a game.

Of the Blue Jays’ 10 games left, four are against the Twins 66-85, three against the Orioles 48-103, and the other three games right in the middle of those two series are three games against the Yankees at Rogers Center. . .

The Yankees finish with three in Boston, the aforementioned three against the Jays and finish with three against Tampa at Yankee Stadium.

The schedule is very much in favor of the Blue Jays.