After loss to O's, Blue Jays still 'waiting for that big stretch'

BALTIMORE -- Early last September, the Blue Jays traveled to Camden Yards and, over the course of an intense, at-times heated four-game series, all but put the upstart Orioles’ longshot October dreams to bed.

A lot can change in a year, and while Toronto remains in the thick of the American League Wild Card hunt, any lingering divisional hopes might have evaporated with Wednesday’s punchless 7-0 loss to the first-place Orioles, who have had the Blue Jays’ number all season.

Kevin Gausman held Baltimore to two runs, but the offense went silent as Toronto fell back to 8.5 games behind Baltimore in the AL East.

“You look back a couple years ago at where they were, compared to where we were, and they have a lot of really, really good young players,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “They have a lot of different ways they try to beat you, whether it’s power, speed or matchups. Those guys emerging at the back end of their bullpen have been a difference-marker for them. But these games are fun. These are two really good teams.”

Wednesday’s defeat squandered an additional opportunity for the Blue Jays, who remained one game back of the Mariners for the final AL Wild Card spot after Seattle lost to the White Sox in Chicago. The Mariners’ lead is effectively larger, though, since they are almost certain to win the tiebreaker over Toronto based on intra-divisional record (the first tiebreaker is head-to-head record, but the Blue Jays and Mariners split their six matchups).

Toronto still has 35 games left in the regular season, but only seven of those are against direct AL East or Wild Card competition. While Wednesday’s defeat hardly buries the club in the Wild Card hunt, it at least goes toward pushing the Blue Jays to the periphery of the AL East picture.

Even with a series win on Thursday, the best Toronto can do this week is leave Baltimore down 7.5 games with 34 to play.

“These guys are going to be back in the batter’s box tomorrow at 7 o’clock, ready to go,” Gausman said. “We’re waiting for that big stretch. We’ve kind of been waiting for that all year, and is it gonna happen? I don’t know. I hope it does. I hope it starts tomorrow. But we can’t keep sitting back and waiting on that. We’ve gotta go now and we need a little bit more of a sense of urgency.”

Gausman did all he could to help secure a big series win against his former team, working around two errors, striking out eight batters and reaching 1,500 career innings while shaving his ERA to 3.23. That’s tied for seventh among AL starters. Gausman leads AL hurlers in strikeouts (195) and fWAR as he makes a late push in the AL Cy Young race.

“I think he should be firmly in that conversation,” Schneider said. “Just based on the consistency, his numbers speak for themselves. Obviously, the strikeouts, what he can do single-handedly to get guys out. … He just kind of lets his numbers do the talking. But seeing him for the last two years, I think he's one of the best pitchers in the league, for sure.”

But on Wednesday, an offense the Blue Jays were hopeful was hitting its stride went cold again against Dean Kremer -- the last-minute replacement for the scratched Jack Flaherty -- and Baltimore’s heralded back-end relief corps. Toronto managed only five singles in what was a close game until Baltimore’s five-run eighth turned it into a blowout.

Still, the Blue Jays have won 10 of their last 17 games. They have MLB’s top pitching staff by ERA, a lockdown bullpen and a deep rotation headlined by a top Cy Young candidate. And yet, their offensive inconsistency continues to plague them in a year in which they remain on pace for around 90 wins.

“Every game matters,” Gausman said. “There are five or six teams within a two- or three-game difference. As a player, that’s what you want. You want to be in this spot with a month left with an opportunity to punch a ticket and control your own destiny. We haven’t necessarily played great baseball all year, but we’re in a situation now where we’re right there and we’ve just got to keep going.”