Blue Jays fall in 10 after Ray's dominant start

TORONTO -- The Robbie Ray Show aired its best episode of the season on Friday night in Toronto, but two worn-out narratives ruined the ending yet again.

The 4-1 loss to the Tigers at Rogers Centre is one of the worst of the season for the Blue Jays, who had a half-dozen opportunities to win before Detroit pulled away in the 10th. With two runners on and no outs in both the eighth and ninth, the Blue Jays failed to cash in and the bullpen eventually crumbled. You’ve read those stories before.

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Late hitting and the bullpen have taken turns being the problem in 2021, but on Friday, they joined hands, erasing a brilliant outing from Ray. His rise from rotation depth to No. 1 starter has quietly been the most important story of the season for the Blue Jays, and over eight innings of one-run ball with 11 strikeouts, Ray tried to sling the entire team over his mighty left shoulder and carry them to a victory. It almost worked, and it should have.

“That was his game. Early, I could tell that was his game,” said manager Charlie Montoyo. “All that could take him out was pitch count. He’s already thrown 110, 115, but that was his game. He did such a good job. You felt it. We needed a couple of runs, it just didn’t work out. Robbie was on.”

That’s ace stuff from Ray. So is a 2.79 ERA with 178 strikeouts over 145 1/3 innings. Montoyo has said a dozen times now that Ray should have been an All-Star, and at this rate, he’ll be getting consideration for American League Cy Young Award top-five votes. Not bad for the guy who led the Majors in walks last season and came back on a one-year prove-it deal.

The “ace” tag exists on a pedestal, and the height of that pedestal depends on which city you’re standing in. Here in Toronto, any pitcher who hopes to reach that level will be measured up against the great Roy Halladay. They’ll all fall short, of course, but a pitcher can still achieve greatness without being the greatest to ever do it. Ray isn’t the ace of a generation, leading rotations across a decade, but he’s the ace of the 2021 Blue Jays. Friday’s outing showed that, and it should have been the classic skid-stopper that makes an ace.

Coming off four losses in five games against the Mariners and Nationals, the Blue Jays had lost all momentum from their 9-2 return to Rogers Centre in early August and were sliding at the worst possible time. Friday’s loss extends that worrying skid, especially with the Yankees continuing their incredible run ahead of them in the AL Wild Card race.

“You could tell early on that it was going to be tough to score. You could see that,” Montoyo said. “[Tyler Alexander] was dealing, and we couldn’t make an adjustment. Robbie Ray was on. It only takes a bloop single to score, something like that. It just didn’t happen. It happened for them, it didn’t happen for us. We didn’t execute, that’s the bottom line. We didn’t execute.”

This is where you look to experience to come through, and while the Blue Jays have plenty of young players, there are enough veterans to balance that out. There has to be an answer for why the offense hasn’t clicked in the late innings despite their dominance against opposing starters, though. Sometimes, less is more.

“When you’re trying to win, you try a little harder and that’s just how it goes. It should be the other way around, that you calm down,” Montoyo explained. “You can tell that we’re trying hard, because our guy out there on the mound was lights out like he’s always been. He did an outstanding job and gave us a chance. I think they were trying a little too hard to score for him. We just didn’t do it.”

From the untimely hitting to a misplaced Breyvic Valera bunt and the late bullpen loss, there’s no shortage of places to lay blame here. Ray went out of his way to keep it off the ‘pen, though, especially Trevor Richards, who looked great through the first two batters in the 10th before pinch-hitter Harold Castro reached out of the zone and looped an RBI single into left field.

“Nights like tonight are tough. The extra-inning rule with the guy on second base, it’s not an easy situation to be thrown into,” Ray said. “It’s definitely added a little aspect to the game, but it’s tough. Nobody wants to come in with a guy on second, but that’s the rule this year. They were able to come through and we weren’t. We’re going to come back tomorrow and get back after it.”

The Blue Jays will have to. The calendar is growing shorter, and playoff teams don’t make a habit of turning dominant eight-inning performances into losses.