It was Toronto’s first legitimate scoring threat against the Oakland Athletics, with runners at second and third and just one out in the third inning.
The first to fail was Curtis Granderson, who struck out, but the hometown crowd at Rogers Centre remained optimistic with slugger Josh Donaldson next up.
The Blue Jays third baseman worked the count to a favourable 3-0 and was swinging away when Oakland pitcher Daniel Mengden delivered an 80-mile-an-hour slider.
Donaldson struck a bouncer to Matt Chapman at third base. Chapman snagged it easily and made the throw to first in time to get Donaldson by a step or two. The rally was over.
As Donaldson pulled up after crossing first base, he put both his hands on his batting helmet and for a moment it appeared as though he was going to vent his frustrations by trashing the helmet into the dirt.
Instead, Donaldson very gently laid the helmet on the ground and slowly made his way over to third base where a teammate had thoughtfully dropped off his glove and cap.
It has been a terrible month for both Donaldson and the Blue Jays, whose early season slide continued Sunday with an uninspiring 9-2 loss to the Athletics.
The Athletics swept the series 4-0 as the Blue Jays lost for the seventh time in their past eight to fall three games under .500 (22-25). That’s the first time this season they’ve drifted that far from the break-even mark.
The game was another horrible outing from the Blue Jays, whose fielding skills, like their hitting of late, has been laughable. Toronto committed four errors, one by Donaldson and two by shortstop Richard Urena, who treated the ball like it was a hand grenade.
After the game, Urena paid the price, getting optioned to Triple A in Buffalo.
“I’ve got to be better, plain and simple,” Donaldson said.
Toronto had just four hits, including a two-run home run by Yangervis Solarte in the bottom of the ninth to avert the shutout. Toronto was outscored in the series 27-12.
Blue Jays manager John Gibbons was asked what he was thinking as he watched the game.
“The same thing you were thinking, all the fans were thinking, it was ugly,” he said. “Wash it off, move on, day off tomorrow, show up Tuesday.
“We’re obviously better than that. But we’re on a bad stretch right now, we’re not playing real good baseball, you know in a bunch of different areas. Seen it before, will see it again, that’s the nature of the beast.”
Joe Biagini (0-3) got the start for Toronto and absorbed the loss. He wasn’t that bad, but allowed four runs off six hits through four-plus innings.
The game was such a farce that Gibbons elected to employ struggling designated hitter Kendrys Morales as a pitcher to start the eighth. Morales, who used to be a pitcher in Cuba, walked one to go along with three flyouts.
Carrying a 5-0 lead into the sixth, fielding gaffes by Urena and then Teoscar Hernandez cleared the way for Oakland to piece together four unearned runs and turn the game into a laugher.
Hernandez’s error was especially galling, coming after he took a rather nonchalant route on a deep fly ball lifted to right by Dustin Fowler with Oakland baserunners at first and third.
The ball deflected off Hernandez’s glove and Fowler got all the way to third, scoring two more runs, and many of the 30,000-plus fans began hooting and hollering in derision.
This was the first time since 2001 that the Blue Jays have been swept at home in a four-game series.
The Blue Jays next face the visiting Los Angeles Angels, for a three-game series that begins Tuesday. With the Angels seen as a playoff contender this would be a good time for the Blue Jays to pick up their play.
““They’re all big [games],” Donaldson said. “This was a big one, unfortunately we weren’t able to scrape any across or win any games. But we got to move on, got to go to the next one. It’s important as well.”
Heading into Sunday, the Blue Jays had lost 11 of their previous 15, with the team hitting a collective .221 and averaging close to 10 strikeouts a game.
That slide also coincides with a dip in Donaldson’s performance. On Sunday he was 0-for-3 before getting subbed by Gio Urshela in the eighth.
Over his past 15 games, Donaldson is hitting .164 with no home runs and just four extra-base hits. He has 19 strikeouts in 55 at-bats. Those are not numbers someone headed into free agency wants to see on his résumé.