The Toronto Blue Jays are down to their last breath. The Jays lost Game 4 of the ALCS 14-2 to the Kansas City Royals, pushing Kansas City to the brink of their second straight AL pennant.
Toronto didn’t have a chance in this one from the get go. Alcides Escobar led the game off with a bunt single, and Ben Zobrist followed the single up with a two-run homer to put Kansas City on top 2-0. RA Dickey then walked Lorenzo Cain and gave up a single to Eric Hosmer, loading the bases with none out for Kendrys Morales. Cain scored on a Russell Martin passed ball, and Hosmer moved up to third on a ground out by Morales before scoring on a Mike Moustakas sac fly. It was 4-0 in favor of the defending AL champions after just one half inning
The Jays went down quietly in the first against Chris Young, and their deficit was extended to 5-0 in the second thanks to a solo homer by former Blue Jay Alex Rios. Dickey then hit Escobar, induced a ground out from Zobrist, and walked Cain, leading to the end of his night after just 1 2/3 innings. Liam Hendriks relieved him, and did a great job of holding the Royals in check over the game’s middle innings.
Toronto’s offense got on the board in the third against Young. Ryan Goins singled with one out, advanced to second on a Ben Revere walk, and scored on a ground rule double by Josh Donaldson. Jose Bautista grounded out to make it a 5-2 game, but Edwin Encarnacion lined out to end the inning and rob the Blue Jays of a chance to add more runs to their ledger.
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Meanwhile, the Jays offense stayed stuck in neutral. Young set them down in order, and was pulled in the fifth after allowing a single to Revere. Luke Hochevar relieved him and after allowing a leadoff single in the sixth, forced Encarnacion to ground into a double play to snuff out another Toronto’s scoring chance before it began.
In the seventh, the wheels came off for the Jays. LaTroy Hawkins took the hill and walked Sal Perez on four pitches. He then allowed back to back singles to Alex Gordon and Rios, and John Gibbons pulled the veteran in favor of rookie Ryan Tepera, who hadn’t pitched in the Postseason to this point and had just 33 career innings in the majors under his belt. A sac fly from Escobar made it 6-2, and Gordon scored on a wild pitch to make it 7-2. After walking Zobrist, Tepera allowed a single to Cain, increasing the lead to 8-2, and a Hosmer sac fly made it 9-2.
Toronto squandered a leadoff single from Tulowitzki in the bottom of the inning before Tepera dumped more gas on the fire in the eighth. Moustakas grounded out to lead off the inning, and Perez then doubled. After a Gordon walk, Paulo Orlando singled and Perez scored on an Escobar sac fly. Zobrist reached on an infield single, and Cain then singled in Gordon and Orlando to make it 12-2. Tepera’s final line? 1 2/3 inning, five hits, four runs, two walks, zero strikeouts. Welcome to the majors, kid!
The ninth inning was an embarrassment for the Jays. Mark Lowe relieved Tepera in the eighth and struggled in the game’s final frame, allowing a leadoff single to Morales before striking out Moustakas and forcing Drew Butera to ground out. Lowe then plunked Gordon and was pulled for…Cliff Pennington. Yes, Cliff Pennington the middle infielder. He allowed a pair of singles and two more runs before getting Zobrist to pop out, ending the suffering for the Jays.
The usual suspects shined on offense for Kasnas City. Cain went 2/3 with a run, three RBI, and two walks. Escobar, who is looking like the ALCS MVP right now, went 2/3 with a run and four RBI. He’s hitting .600/.579/.867 in the series. Rios went 3/3 with that solo homer, which must have felt pretty good given the way he left Toronto years ago.
Meanwhile for Toronto, Edwin Encarnacion, Chris Colabello, and Kevin Pillar went 0/4. Russell Martin went 0/3. Throw in Tulowitzki’s 1/3 game, and you’ve got the team’s 4-8 hitters going a combined 1/18. Hell, Dalton Pompey pinch hit for Tulowitzki in the ninth and singled, equaling the total number of hits that part of the order had over the entirety of the game. The team had just one extra base hit on the afternoon, Donaldson’s double in the third. The Jays’ pitching staff did them no favors on Tuesday, but their offense was once again a no-show. In their three ALCS losses, the Blue Jays have scored a total of five runs.
Game 5 will take place on Wednesday afternoon at Rogers Centre. Edinson Volquez will take the hill for the Royals, and Marco Estrada will attempt to extend the Blue Jays’ season for at least one more game. Can the Jays rally back from a 3-1 deficit like the Royals did against them in the 1985 ALCS? It’ll be an uphill battle for sure, but if they can get to Game 6 in Kansas City with David Price on the hill, there’s a chance they can still win the pennant.
