There wasn’t much to talk about in terms of the Toronto Blue Jays offence today in a 1-0 loss to the Oakland Athletics. Between 9.0 innings, Toronto only reached base six times, two times via singles, two hit-by-pitches, and getting walked twice.
Oakland’s starting pitcher, Osvaldo Bido, had his way with the Jays batters. In 6.0 innings pitched, Bido only allowed two hits and one walk. Ever since the A’s put Bido back in the starting rotation, he’s had three starts of going at least 5.0 innings and allowing two or fewer earned runs.
One of the two hits that came off Bido was a single from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the first inning. With the hit, Guerrero Jr. has now tied his MLB career high for consecutive games with a hit (22 games).
According to Major League Baseball, the longest hitting streak for the Toronto Blue Jays came back in 1999, when Shawn Green put up a 28-game hit streak.
The only other Blue Jay to collect a base knock was Ernie Clement. Over his last 15 games, Clement has at least one hit in 12 starts.
Oakland and Toronto didn’t score any runs for the first five innings until one swing changed it all in the sixth. 2023 All-Star Brent Rooker hit a slider from Toronto SP Yariel Rodríguez that barely got out of Rogers Centre.
At first, it was a double for Rooker, But after the replay showed the ball hitting the top of the wall in left field, the hit was called a home run.
For Rooker, it was his 29th home run of the year, as the Oakland player is now 7th in MLB for OPS (.951) and tied for 6th in the league for home runs.
Despite giving up the run, Rodríguez still went 5.2 innings, striking out five batters. It’s now the fifth straight start for a Toronto starting pitcher of allowing two earned runs or less.
Toronto’s bullpen also didn’t give up any runs in consecutive outings. Reliever Tommy Nance made his debut for the Jays, allowing two hits and recording a single out. Nance was acquired from the San Diego Padres earlier this week for cash considerations.
Speaking of roster moves, Toronto, during the game, announced they claimed RHP Luis Frías off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks and optioned him to Triple-A Buffalo. In 6.1 innings pitched in MLB this year, Frías has a 9.95 ERA.
