Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt works against the Kansas City Royals during the second inning of their game in Toronto on Sunday.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
It was a splendid sun-splashed Sunday at Rogers Centre: the roof was open; all the seats were filled and the crowd was buzzing over a first-place team. The only things missing, as it turns out, were a tall glass of cold lemonade and a victory by the Blue Jays.
A few unusual things befell the hometown team. It was the first time Toronto lost back-to-back series since May, and only the fifth occasion in 55 games where it went down to defeat when it held a lead after six innings.
Kansas City rallied to beat the somewhat bumbling Blue Jays 7-4 in 10 innings. The top of the 10th was a humdinger. At one point Seranthony Domínguez drew a mock cheer when he threw a strike and catcher Alejandro Kirk, activated earlier in the day from the injured list, fired a ball into left field on a pickoff attempt at third base.
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Domínguez failed to retire any of the four batters he faced – he was charged with five runs, three of which were earned, allowed two hits, walked one and hit Jonathan India on an ugly delivery.
Both of the starting pitchers – Toronto’s Chris Bassitt and Kansas City’s Seth Lugo – were perfectly imperfect enough to be effective.
Bassitt had a no-hitter but was tied 1-1 after four innings, where he’d retired nine straight batters. In the fourth, he walked two in a row, plunked another and then gave up a sacrifice fly. He committed a balk in the fifth but left with a 2-1 lead after six.
He allowed just one hit overall in a scuffle of an outing.
“You take your licks,” Bassitt said afterward. “It’s going to happen during the year.”
Lugo was pulled after 4.2 innings – by then he had walked four and given up four hits and two runs.
Kansas City Royals second baseman Tyler Tolbert hits a single against the Toronto Blue Jays during the 10th inning at Rogers Centre during their game on Sunday.Kevin Sousa/Reuters
In the eighth, recently acquired reliever Louis Varland allowed a double by Bobby Witt Jr. and then a game-tying single by Vinnie Pasquantino.
The seldom-used Tyler Tolbert broke it open in the 10th with a two-run single off Domínguez. Tolbert had entered as a pinch runner and came to the plate with a .195 average.
Toronto got its runs on a single by Myles Straw in the second, a single by Joey Loperfido in the fifth and singles by Nathan Lukes and Addison Barger in the final frame.
It was not such a good day for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette. The Blue Jays’ No. 3 and 4 hitters went a combined 1-for-7 and Bichette bobbled what appeared to be an easy double-play grounder for an error in the first.
There was also a base-running mistake by Daulton Varsho, who got tagged out in an elongated rundown between third and home in the second.
“If you could do it all over again, you would,” Schneider said. “It was just one of those days.”
Toronto was to fly to Denver Sunday night to begin a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies on Monday. They then play a weekend series in Los Angeles against the Dodgers.
They lost a game in the standings to the surprising Boston Red Sox, who sit in second place in the American League East now just three games back.
The punchless and Aaron Judge-less New York Yankees are third, 4.5 games behind, after getting swept in three contests in Miami by the Marlins.
Fans went home from the Rogers Centre without the outcome they had hoped for. This is baseball, so it still makes for a satisfying slice of summer even in defeat. There is always something to look forward to.
Perhaps Shane Bieber, who had an encouraging appearance in Buffalo on Sunday for the AAA Bisons, will be in a Blue Jays uniform soon.
A full house danced in their seats to tunes spun by the entertainer/DJ Lady Pista. Two hours later, kids were still running the bases. They didn’t seem to care that the home team had lost.