Home > 2022 > 06/22 > Blue Jays skid continues as the bullpen struggles yet again in marathon loss to the White Sox
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Blue Jays skid continues as the bullpen struggles yet again in marathon loss to the White Sox

| Scott Ony

Nearly four and a half hours after the opening pitch, Josh Harrison hit a single up the middle to score Jose Abreu from second and walk off the Blue Jays 7-6 in twelve innings.

The Blue Jays battled back after an excellent start from Dylan Cease left them hitless until the sixth. They had leads in the eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh but the White Sox wouldn’t go away.

A pair of nice catches by Adam Engel and Luis Robert held the Blue Jays scoreless in the twelfth and set up the home side to walk it off in the bottom half.

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The Blue Jays have now lost five of their last six games to fall to 38-30 on the season. Ross Stripling will take the mound this afternoon in an attempt to avoid the sweep.

Things Worth Mentioning…

It was a tale of two halves on Tuesday night. White Sox starter Dylan Cease was lights out from the first pitch. He struck out five straight to begin the game while making Blue Jays batters look clueless.

Kevin Gausman wasn’t quite as sharp early on, giving up a run on two hits in the first, but he settled down and pitched six innings of two-run ball.

Cease’s slider was unhittable and he proved why he leads the American League in K’s/9 last night.

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Not to be outdone, Gausman left the White Sox lineup guessing with his splitter.

Although both starters had strong outings throwing six innings, it would end up only being half of the game. It became a battle of attrition when they were removed and the bullpens collectively struggled to get outs.

After Yankees fans whined on Twitter all day about Alejandro Kirk leading American League catchers in all star votes, he showed he belongs by hitting a solo shot to off of Jimmy Lambert to get the Jays on the board in the seventh.

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A series of soft hit balls and walks would plate three more for the Jays in the eighth to give them the lead 4-2. Adam Cimber and Yimi Garcia came in and pitched two innings of shutout ball to set up Jordan Romano for the save.

Unfortunately for the Jays, Romano struggled to find his command and blew the save in the bottom of the ninth. In just one inning he walked two and gave up three hits to tie the game. He almost took the loss but Bradley Zimmer saved the day on a diving catch to take away a hit from AJ Pollock.

The roller coaster of a game continued in the top of the tenth as Vladdy Guerrero Jr. took the first pitch he saw the other way for a double to plate Bo Bichette and take the lead again.

Tim Mayza was now in for a rare save opportunity in the bottom half but he ran into trouble as well. Luis Robert eventually tied the game with a sacrifice fly to Raimel Tapia. Later in the inning it seemed as if the White Sox would walk it off as they had the bases loaded with only one out but Mayza escaped by inducing the 6-2-3 double play.

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Tapia gave the Blue Jays the lead yet again in the eleventh but it wasn’t enough. The White Sox tied the game in the bottom half and held the Jays scoreless in the twelfth.

Josh Harrison walked it off with this hit as Matt Gage was just one strike away from finishing the inning.

The ball game was not all the Blue Jays lost on Tuesday night. George Springer was removed from the game after three at bats with right elbow discomfort.

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It’s also worth noting that home plate umpire Doug Eddings had maybe the worst performance by any player or official all season. He hurt and helped both teams throughout the night while seemingly guessing on anything near the edges of the plate. Be sure to take a look at his scorecard.

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