TORONTO — Max Scherzer kept his head down as he walked off the Rogers Centre mound and into the dugout. After passing pitching coach Pete Walker, the Toronto Blue Jays’ right-hander stopped at the water cooler to grab a drink and then stood by himself, presumably collecting his thoughts.
To say Sunday’s outing was a rough one for Scherzer would be an understatement. The veteran was removed in the third inning and charged with eight runs during what ended up being an 8-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins in front of 37,804.
The loss ensured the Blue Jays ended their homestand with just two wins in six games and they were outscored 40-23 along the way.
It’s been a tough stretch for the defending American League champions, who placed George Springer on the injured list Sunday morning with a left great toe fracture as the designated hitter became the club’s 10th player sidelined to injury.
However, it’s not just injuries to the starting staff and lineup that are plaguing the Blue Jays and contributing to the four consecutive series losses since opening weekend. There’s also a level of ineffectiveness at play and that was evident during the three-game set against the Twins.
Patrick Corbin, Eric Lauer, and Scherzer combined to allow 19 earned runs over 11.2 innings during their starts. The Blue Jays were able to overcome Corbin’s rough outing during Friday’s win, but the poor rotation performances put the club in massive holes on both Saturday and Sunday.
Right-handers Trey Yesavage and Jose Berrios are making progress toward returns, however, as the Blue Jays embark on a nine-game road trip through Milwaukee, Arizona and Anaheim, results from the incumbent members of the starting staff will need to improve.
Scherzer was coming off a two-inning outing against the Dodgers that he left due to right forearm tendinitis. He underwent an MRI in between starts that showed there were no issues with the ligament and was deemed healthy for Sunday’s contest, which featured a Twins lineup with five lefties and three switch-hitters.
The right-hander touched 94.1 m.p.h. with his fastball in the opening frame and got two flyouts and an inning-ending punchout. In the second inning, though, he had trouble locating and walked Josh Bell and hit Matt Wallner before surrendering a three-run homer to Tristan Gray, who unleashed on an 0-1 cutter in the middle of the zone.
Scherzer wasn’t able to stop the bleeding in the third when Kody Clemens led off with a 417-foot homer to right-centre field, and the Twins followed that with single-single-walk-single-sac fly. Scherzer was lifted for Joe Mantiply, who hit the first batter he faced before surrendering a bases-loaded double to Brooks Lee during what was a five-run inning.
The runs were charged to Scherzer, and in total, he allowed eight on five hits over 2.1 innings, with two walks and three strikeouts over 68 pitches (41 strikes).
