All was not lost in the Blue Jays\u2019 second consecutive loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, this one a 4-1 decision on Saturday.<\/p>\n
To begin with, Kevin Gausman posted one of his strongest outings of the season when he issued zero free passes to Milwaukee.<\/p>\n
Myles Straw had a three-hit game and made everyone forget about Daulton Varsho\u2019s defence in centre field.<\/p>\n
Ernie Clement pinch-hit in making his first appearance since he suffered a small hairline fracture in his hand.<\/p>\n
Bo Bichette extended his hit streak to a career-high 14 games.<\/p>\n
There was the good, and then there was the bad, which becomes inevitable when a game is lost.<\/p>\n
In the aftermath of the Jays\u2019 defeat, manager John Schneider wasn\u2019t about to make any definitive statements on whether any changes await.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in the business of trying to win,\u201d began the skipper. \u201cIn real time, we\u2019re aware of what\u2019s happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
The primary theme of what\u2019s happening involves the bullpen and the team\u2019s closer, Jeff Hoffman.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe overall theme for anyone is walks and damage,\u201d said Schneider. \u201cIt was tough out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hoffman has 29 saves.<\/p>\n
When things go awry for Hoffman, they become magnified, given his job description.<\/p>\n
Schneider keeps defending the beleaguered Hoffman, who easily could be back on the mound in Sunday\u2019s series finale before the Jays begin a six-game road trip that ends with a weekend in the Bronx against the New York Yankees.<\/p>\n
No one is reaching for the panic button, but at the same time the Jays will usher in September baseball Monday when MLB rosters can be expanded.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want to deviate too much,\u201d added Schneider. \u201cThere is a definite sense of urgency to get guys better.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pressure of a pennant race and how the Jays perform will tell a lot about their ability to go deep in the post-season.<\/p>\n
A leaky bullpen doesn\u2019t bode well, and neither does an offence that has managed to produce a total of three runs in two losses to the Brewers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the big leagues and there\u2019s a standard,\u201d continued Schneider. \u201cYou move on. In tight games you go out and execute.\u201d<\/p>\n
Veteran right-hander Max Scherzer will get the starting assignment on Sunday.<\/p>\n
As Schneider acknowledged, good pitching often prevails at this time of the baseball calendar.<\/p>\n
Shane Bieber was good in his home debut Friday, Gausman even better Saturday.<\/p>\n
Part of Toronto\u2019s inability to score against the Brewers has been a scarcity of opportunities.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe expect more from some of our guys,\u201d said the skipper. \u201cI feel we\u2019ve fared well (against elite pitching) and I don\u2019t want to deviate.\u201d<\/p>\n
A strong outing from Scherzer will help.<\/p>\n
The possibility of having both Varsho and Clement back in the starting lineup can\u2019t hurt.<\/p>\n
What has hurt the Jays in dropping two in a row to the Brewers has been an anemic offence and a deficient pen.<\/p>\n
RECOMMENDED VIDEO<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"All was not lost in the Blue Jays\u2019 second consecutive loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, this one a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282677,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2378],"tags":[5,377,2554,88,3615,854,6130,380,3964,389,381,59,4,6082,62,1271,1414,7000,282,70,2553],"class_list":{"0":"post-282676","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto-blue-jays","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-blue-jays","10":"tag-bluejays","11":"tag-bo-bichette","12":"tag-caleb-durbin","13":"tag-daulton-varsho","14":"tag-ernie-clement","15":"tag-jeff-hoffman","16":"tag-john-schneider","17":"tag-kevin-gausman","18":"tag-max-scherzer","19":"tag-milwaukee-brewers","20":"tag-mlb","21":"tag-myles-straw","22":"tag-new-york-yankees","23":"tag-shane-bieber","24":"tag-the-blue-jays","25":"tag-the-jays","26":"tag-toronto","27":"tag-toronto-blue-jays","28":"tag-torontobluejays"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115120500019525964","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}