MISSED OPPORTUNITY Nats clobber Blue Jays as bullpen collapses
Author of the article:
Mike GanterPublishing date:
Aug 17, 2021 • 41 minutes ago • 4 minute read • Join the conversation
Washington Nationals' Yadiel Hernandez hits a solo home run against the Toronto Blue Jays in the second inning at Nationals Park on Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021. Photo by GEOFF BURKE /USA TODAY SPORTS Article content Come September, last night’s game in Washington may be one those this Blue Jays team looks back on with some collective head-shaking.
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Article contentIt’s not so much the loss. Any team in the Majors on any given night can beat another.
It was the opportunity missed.
The Jays had one of their two hottest starters on the mound in Alek Manoah going up against a Washington Nationals team that had lost 12 of their past 13 after basically selling everything they could at the trade deadline not named Juan Soto.
The Jays are only in Washington for two games but the feeling was these were two gettable games given the direction the Nationals have been heading of late.
Unfortunately for the Jays, the Nationals did a full 180 first chasing Manoah who had been so tough of late with seven runs against him over just three innings and then getting a solid five innings out of Erick Fedde to take control of this game on their way to an 12-6 win.
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Article contentThat the loss came the same day the Jays learned they would be without leadoff man George Springer for the next little while, only added to the dejection.
“Any time you lose a guy like Springer, it hurts, but we have done that before,†manager Charlie Montoyo said. “He’s been hurt before and this team has played well. Losing Springer is big but we just didn’t pitch good today. When you don’t pitch good you lose games like this.â€
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Manoah was coming off a masterful performance in a win over Anaheim last week and had the better start to the game than Fedde who was dealing with multiple baserunners in each of his first two innings.
But it was Manoah who blinked first giving up a run in the bottom of the second and then six more in the third on his way to just the second loss of his rookie campaign against five wins.
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Article contentMontoyo was asked about leaving Manoah in for that entire six-run third.
“I trust the kid, but it’s an overworked bullpen,†the Jays’ manager said. “So if you start taking guys out in the third inning, you’re not going to have enough. These guys are tired out. Tough, tough loss. Balls were finding holes and stuff, but yeah he had to find his way through at least three or four innings. He was going to get (some leeway) just because of our bullpen situation.â€
The Jays did make it interesting with two runs in the fifth on the red-hot Teoscar Hernandez’ third homer in three games and then got three more in the eighth courtesy of a wild Mason Thompson who walked two and gave up a hit against the three batters he faced.
But with the go-ahead run at the dish in the form of Bo Bichette veteran reliever Kyle Finnegan got the Jays shortstop to ground out to second to end the threat.
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Article contentIt didn’t matter as it turned out because the Jays bullpen gave most of that ground made up back in their half of the eighth as the Nationals got four back to push the lead back to six.
Former Jays catcher Riley Adams, dealt to the Nationals in the Brad Hand deal, had a great night against his former teammates with three hits including a solo homer and then a two-run double in the eighth to help nail this one down.
There were some bright spots on an otherwise forgettable night for the Jays.
Connor Overton, called up just this past weekend gave the bullpen two clean innings to allow the Jays to get back into the game temporarily with that three-run eighth.
Santiago Espinal, who has done a nice job at third in the absence of Cavan Biggio, hustled out of the box on a ground ball in that three-run eighth to avoid being doubled up on what looked like a room-service double play.
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Article contentInstead of two out and a runner at third, Espinal’s hustle kept it just one out with runners on the corners and helped lead to two more runs in the inning.
Perhaps the best sign from a Jays perspective and what they are going to need with George Springer out at least 10 days with a left knee sprain, was a 2-for-3 night from the struggling Vladimir Guerrero who also walked twice in the game.
These though were all small wins on a night when the Jays couldn’t get the big win they really needed.
From a wild-card perspective, the Jays lost a game and a half to the Yankees who swept the Red Sox in a double-header though they did pick up a half game on the Sox.
Toronto now trail the Red Sox, Yankees and Oakland A’s by four games with the top two spots claiming the two wild cards.
mganter@postmedia.com
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