At least it was quick and compelling
Blue Jays 0 at Rangers 2
In the end, the result was the same: for the second successive night, the Jays fell to the Rangers. But otherwise, it could not have been more different. After an interminable slog of a 3 hour, 30 minute game that rivaled Verdun for pointless futility, tonight was a crisp 2 hour, 10 minutes that made made for quite compelling viewing in spite of the outcome and lack of offensive output.
Having burnt through most of the bullpen in vain last night and absolutely no one yearning for an encore, the Jays were looking for another tour de force from their nascent ace and stopper, Bowden Francis. Unfortunately, he failed them almost immediately.
Marcus Semien hammered his fourth pitch of the game for a ringing double, breaking up the no-hitter before it even got started. Now, look, I know it’s unrealistic to expect him to take a no-hitter into the 9th every start, but the least he could have done is taken into into the 3rd or 4th. What a disappointment.
In any event, Francis did rebound to strand Semien at third with a pair of strikeouts to end the inning, and worked around a pair of runners in each of the next two innings to keep the shutout intact (again, the least he could do having squandered the no-hitter right off the bat).
He followed with clean inning in the 4th and 5th, and it looked like he might have settled into the groove he’s inhabited most of the last month. Alas, Wyatt Langford picked up where he left last night, flaring a single leading off the 6th. The next pitch to Adolis Garcia was an 87-MPH fastball to Adolis Garcia, and he whacked a high fly ball to left field that just landed beyond the wall. Not exactly a a titanic shot, but neither a total cheapie at 372 feet.
And that was essentially the ballgame. because save a couple of small windows, the Jays’ batters had no answer for Cody Bradford. In fact, it was probably a lot like facing Francis the last month. His stuff wasn’t overwhelming, but he mixed three good pitches to generate weak contact. Accordingly, the first 12 batters went down in order over the first four innings.
That futility was punctuated starting the 5th, as Alejandro Kirk smacked a hard ground ball through for a single and Spencer Horwitz followed with a double for golden opportunity. Ernie Clement did manage a fly ball deep enough to score almost any runner but Kirk, but he didn’t chance it and a strikeout and flyout followed.
Bradford reverted back to form until the tiring with two out in the 7th when the Jays managed a pair of singles before he got the last out. David Robertson and Kirby Yates sliced through the order like a hot knife through butter over the 8th and 9th to put the game to bed obviating two perfect innings from Ryan Yarbrough that kept them in it (where the hell was he last night?)
Jays of the Day: None. Horwitz had the high mark at +.084 WPA
Suckage: Leo Jimenez (-.161) and Vladdy (-.114), with plenty of near misses given that the lineup posted -.577 in total but largely spread around.
Tomorrow, the Jays will try to stave off the sweep in a 2:35 EDT matinee getaway, with Kevin Gausman taking on Kumar Rocker in his second major league start for what on paper at least figures to be a compelling match-up.