The Toronto Blue Jays’ offense is struggling without their top hitters.
The Blue Jays lost 4-5 to the Washington Nationals on Tuesday (June 30) at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Toronto’s starting lineup was George Springer (right field), Davis Schneider (second base), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (first base), Danny Jansen (catcher), Whit Merrifield (left field), Alejandro Kirk (designated hitter), Ernie Clement (shortstop), Santiago Espinal (third base), Kevin Kiermaier (center field), and starting pitcher Jose Berrios.
The most notable exclusion is that of offensive sparkplug Bo Bissett. Bisset is batting .314 (152-for-484) with 18 homers, 62 RBIs and an OPS of .832 this year. He ranks seventh in the majors in batting average and sixth in RBIs, and has been a key part of the team’s offense.
However, Bissett was unable to play today as he joined the disabled list (IL). He will be out for the foreseeable future with a right thigh strain. Toronto will be without their offensive spearhead.
Even a day before Bissett’s departure (on the 29th), the dark shadow of injuries loomed over Toronto. Chapman, who had powered the lineup with 15 home runs, 50 RBIs and a .431 on-base percentage this season, went down with a sprained middle finger ligament in his right hand. The sudden departure of Bissett and Chapman leaves Toronto without a full complement of players.
And it showed. Toronto had runners on second and third in the first inning, but couldn’t capitalize. They had runners on second and third in the second inning, runners on first and second in the fourth inning, and runners on first and second with no outs in the fifth inning.
There were other innings where we scored runs, but not as many as we had hoped. In the bottom of the eighth inning, with the score at 3-5, pinch-hitter Dalton Basho hit a sacrifice fly, but Kirk was thrown out trying to rush home.
In the bottom of the ninth, the final offense, back-to-back singles by Cavan Biggio and Keimeyer and a walk to Springer loaded the bases, but Schneider was retired on a swinging strikeout and Guerrero Jr.’s grounder to third barely avoided a double play.
Toronto had runners on second and third with one out, but Jansen retired the side on a foul fly to first base to end the game. The Jays sent 15 men to the plate with 11 hits and four walks, but could only muster four runs.
Toronto fell to National League underdog Washington on the day, dropping their record to 72-61 on the season. The Jays are in the fourth wild card spot, 3.5 games behind the Houston Astros (76-58) for the final postseason berth. They need a win in the second half of the season to make it to fall ball, and their offense has struggled in the absence of key players.메이저놀이터
With Bissett and Chapman on the 10-day disabled list, backups will have to step into the lineup for Ryu’s sixth start of the season against the Colorado Rockies on April 2. Can the frustrating Toronto bats change?