Costly errors sink Blue Jays in frustrating loss against Royals

The Toronto Blue Jays didn’t lose Tuesday’s contest in the sixth inning, but you could fairly say that was when the game turned.

With runners on first and third and one out, Kyle Isbel laid a bunt down the first-base line. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. charged in and fielded the ball before throwing it wide of Ernie Clement, who was covering first base.

That botched play led to one run for the Kansas City Royals, who added another a few minutes later to create some separation during what was a close game that ultimately resulted in a 5-3 win over the Blue Jays in front of 43,245 at Rogers Centre.

With the loss, Toronto (64-69) fell 2.5 games behind the Cleveland Guardians, who hold the third wild-card spot and were set to take on the Los Angeles Angels later Tuesday night.

The look of frustration was evident on Guerrero Jr.’s face after his costly error. It’s been a trying season for the first baseman, who went hitless in his first three at-bats Tuesday before scorching a double to the right-centre field gap in the eighth inning. That raised his OPS to .689 and while his offensive struggles have been alarming, Guerrero Jr.’s defence has remained steady all season, making his pivotal miscue even more frustrating.

The Blue Jays entered Tuesday with 30 games left to push for a playoff berth. Much has been made about the fact that none of those games are against teams with winning records, but the reality for Toronto is that if its offence continues to sputter, the quality of competition simply won’t matter.

The lineup went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position on Tuesday, continuing an ugly trend from their weekend series in the Bronx. The best chance to score arrived in the eighth inning, when Toronto loaded the bases against former Blue Jays hurler Nate Pearson. However, Clement flew out to centre to end the threat.

Nathan Lukes singled in the ninth inning to drive in two runs but was thrown out at second base to end the contest. 

Meanwhile, the team’s pitching staff absorbed another blow with right-hander Shane Bieber landing on the injured list with right teres major inflammation retroactive to Aug. 21. Bieber was scheduled to start Wednesday’s contest against the Royals (59-74), and the Blue Jays will instead pivot to another bullpen game. 

That made Max Scherzer’s outing on Tuesday even more important and the veteran right-hander struggled to find the strike zone out of the gate. He loaded the bases in the first inning before inducing a double play off the bat of Salvador Perez’s that pushed across one run. In the fifth, Perez added a two-out RBI single off Scherzer that plated Bobby Witt Jr. and put the Royals up 2-1. 

In total, Scherzer surrendered two runs on four hits over five innings, with four strikeouts and a season-high five walks. After returning from the injured list in late July, Scherzer has looked strong in August, allowing two runs or fewer in four of his five outings in the month.