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A playoff berth will have to wait for the Blue Jays as fans await the day when this first-place club lives up to its billing by playing to a high standard.
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Three losses in a row have highlighted how south this team can quickly go when its hitting is elusive, when its pitching is porous and when frustrations mount.
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Eight games remain in the regular season, eight opportunities for the Blue Jays to regain their form.
Friday night presented an opportunity for Toronto to officially book its ticket into baseball’s second season.
Instead, it revealed how bad things can get when a starter such as Max Scherzer turns into Max Domi, which is no slight on the hockey player.
Regrettably, anyone other than Scherzer would have been a better option against the host Kansas City Royals.
Even pitching coach Pete Walker probably would have fared better than his veteran right-hander before Walker got tossed in a truly embarrassing first inning.
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With AppleTV+ providing the broadcast feed, the Jays were rotten to the core.
The Jays remain three games up on the Yankees for first in the AL East following their loss in Baltimore.
The slumping Tigers, who are chasing the Jays for the top overall seed in the AL, also lost.
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In a way, all was not lost for the Blue Jays, but it was the way they were defeated that should raise alarms.
The following are three takeaways from a truly humbling 20-1 defeat for the Blue Jays, who gave up 10 runs through the game’s first three innings on 11 hits, including seven for extra bases, a night when manager John Schneider would also get tossed.
1. Mad Max’s unmitigated disaster
He was given a 1-0 lead when he took to the hill for the home half of the first inning only to fritter it away in alarming fashion.
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No longer can Scherzer overpower hitters, relying instead on his guile and location.
A borderline pitch on a full count to Maikel Garcia led to a walk, prompting Walker to come to the aid of his embattled starter.
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Walker took his objections a bit too far and was ejected.
One batter later, Salvador Perez went yard for a three-run blast as K.C. took a 5-1 lead.
No outs were recorded, but five hits were surrendered by Scherzer, whose five runs yielded represented a season high.
No one was expecting a no-hitter from Scherzer, but no one envisioned Scherzer being this vulnerable and this brutal.
In his 16th start of the season, the longball surrendered to Perez was the 17th given up by Scherzer.
Home run No. 18 came later in the inning on a two-run belt by Michael Massey as K.C. led 7-1.
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Based on the first inning alone, there’s no way Scherzer belongs to start in the post-season.
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He couldn’t even make it out of the inning in a stunning and shocking turn of events for a three-time Cy Young Award winner, two-time World Series champion and a sure-fire future hall of famer.
Two outs would be recorded by Scherzer, who gave up seven runs on seven hits, including two homers on 45 pitches.
Yikes!
2. Birthday boy George
On his 36th birthday, the ageless George Springer celebrated the occasion by stroking his 63rd leadoff home run, a belt that increased his season total to 30.
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Just when many thought the former World Series MVP was washed up, Springer has changed the narrative almost from the moment the Jays decided to reinsert him at the top of the order.
He’s hands down the club’s most valuable player and will garner league MVP votes.
At no point during his career has Springer compiled a .300 batting average.
He’s well on his way to a career milestone.
With one year left on his six-year deal with the Blue Jays, Springer has been unrelenting at the plate and fearless in the outfield when he’s asked to start.
The 30 homer total is the most Springer has hit during his time with Toronto.
3. The Fisher king
All Braydon Fisher does when summoned from the bullpen is get outs.
He came into the game for a completely underwhelming and overmatched Scherzer, who did the pen absolutely no favours.
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Fisher recorded the final out in the first, but then gave up a leadoff ground-rule double to the opposite field in the second.
He then retired the next three batters.
In 48 innings this season, the rookie Fisher has given up 14 runs.
To preserve the pen, the Jays used a positional player in Tyler Heineman to pitch the seventh inning in a 10-1 game when the evening turned into more of a joke.
The backup catcher started the eighth and gave up six additional runs on eight straight hits.
Another positional player in Isiah Kiner-Falefa relieved Heineman.
Maybe he should have started the game because IKF retired the two batters he faced.
Up next
In the Jays’ penultimate road game of the regular season, Shane Bieber will make his sixth start (7:10 p.m. first pitch); Bieber hasn’t been as dominant since his Jays’ debut in Miami; Saturday’s start does loom large given Friday’s ugliness.
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