'Not doing our part': Toronto's AL East struggles persist

TORONTO -- The Blue Jays will drive the Red Sox to the airport themselves if it gets them out of Canada quicker.

Sunday’s 5-4 loss at Rogers Centre stung, but so have all the other ones. Toronto is 0-7 against the last-place Red Sox this season and just 7-20 within the AL East. For all the narratives and math equations, you don’t need to look much further to understand why the Blue Jays stand short of where they expected to be in early July.

After an Alex Verdugo home run broke the 4-4 tie in the ninth and the Blue Jays couldn’t bounce back, Bo Bichette stood in the dugout an extra minute, staring out at the field. These losses only grow more frustrating, especially behind ace Kevin Gausman, but there’s a reason the Blue Jays get everyone’s best.

“I think we have a target on our back,” said Gausman. “It sounds bad to say, but people know how talented our team is, so they know they have to really bring it. If we don’t bring it, they’re going to have a higher intensity than us. You’ve got to know that going in and try to match that or take over that intensity. The AL East is the hardest division in baseball and obviously, against the Red Sox, we’re not doing our part right now.”

It’s not a matter of effort on the Blue Jays’ side, of course, but execution. The Red Sox, and other AL East opponents, have just seemed sharper at times.

“Teams know how good we are, so they’re prepared for it to be a dogfight,” Gausman said. “They obviously won the first two games, so they’re playing with house money. They’re going to be more aggressive and take risks. Pitchers are the same way. When you have already won a series, you’re going to go into that third game a lot different.”

The Red Sox are last in the AL East, but would be living a much better life in any other division. This seems like an in-between year for them, looking at their roster and the division, but these series against the Blue Jays are shining a light on Boston’s good side.

It all comes down to the same thing: inconsistency.

The Blue Jays, at their best, can hang with anyone. What makes teams like the Rays and Orioles so challenging atop this division, though, is that regardless of how high their ceiling is, they play a good, sturdy brand of their own baseball more consistently. Boston’s done exactly that against the Blue Jays.

“I think they’ve outhit us every game, for one,” said manager John Schneider. “They did some damage. It seems like it’s always the top of the order. Whether it’s [Jarren] Duran, Verdugo or [Rafael] Devers, and [Justin] Turner is a big add for them. He kind of changes the complexion of their at-bats up and down. He gave us trouble. That’s what it is.”

For a while, it looked like the Blue Jays would salvage a win from this series.

Brandon Belt homered twice and Bichette drove in a pair of runs after a wonderfully executed double steal by George Springer and Kevin Kiermaier earlier in the game. At that time, the Blue Jays were controlling the intensity, like Gausman noted.

Like Schneider keeps saying, there’s no shortage of talent here. Bichette and Gausman were both named All-Stars on Sunday alongside Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Whit Merrifield. A handful of other Blue Jays weren’t far off. That All-Star break will be a welcome moment to exhale, but Toronto needs to master the East eventually.

“These games are important, but you’re not trying to do anything different than what you do and what you’re good at,” Schneider said. “It happens to be against division opponents and that’s part of it. We’re in a really tough division, too. They approach every series the same. I know I’ve said these games are a tick more important this time of year against the division, but it’s not like we’re trying to change anything or do anything different.”

In past years, the East at least had a soft spot for 19 games. That was the Orioles for several years as they lived in last place, allowing the Blue Jays, Red Sox, Yankees and Rays to pick up some free wins along the way before battling the East’s other giants. Those days are over, though, leaving the Blue Jays with little room to breathe.