Blue Jays stay cold, drop all four to Rays in Tampa

Even if it was, for a while, denied, it now appears possible, even probable, that the Blue Jays will lose 100 games this season, with this weekend’s four-game slaughtering in Tampa Bay illustrating that almost to perfection.

Due in large part to a lack of pitching, non-existent offence, and occasionally sloppy defence, the Blue Jays were left senseless and were handed their fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth straight losses.

Still, here’s a look at the good, the bad, and the weird from a disappointing series in Tampa:

Jonathan Davis (3-for-11, 2B, RBI, SB) was solid at the plate, while Reese McGuire (4-for-8, R, 2B, RBI) was also productive in his pair of appearances.

On the hill, Wilmer Font (0.2 IP, H, 0 R/ER, SO), Ken Giles (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R/ER), and Derek Law (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R/ER, SO) were effective, while Anthony Kay (5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R/ER, 8 SO) was dominant in his major-league debut.

Jason Adam (1.1 IP, 3 H, R/ER), Buddy Boshers (0.0 IP, H, R/ER, HR, L), Sam Gaviglio (2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R/ER, HB), and Tim Mayza (0.1 IP, H, R/ER) struggled in relief, with Jordan Romano (0.0 IP, 0 H, R/ER, BB) picking up a tough loss on Saturday. Jacob Waguespack (4.1 IP, 7 H, 6 R/ER, HR, 2 BB, 2 SO), L) was severely roughed up as well in his 10th career start.

Bo Bichette (3-for-17, 2 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI, BB, 4 SO) had an uncharacteristically unproductive set, and, outside of his two-homer performance on Thursday, went 1-for-12. Elsewhere, Anthony Alford (1-for-4, SO, 1 TB), Cavan Biggio (0-for-7, R, 2 BB, 5 SO, SB), Brandon Drury (1-for-7, BB, 2 SO), Derek Fisher (0-for-6, BB, 5 SO), and Teoscar Hernandez (1-for-12, 1 TB, 10(!) SO) were all invisible.

Danny Jansen (0-for-6, BB), Billy McKinney (0-for-4, RBI, 3 SO), Richard Urena (0-for-3, SO), and Justin Smoak (1-for-6, R, 2B, 2 BB, 3 SO) were also among those to struggle with the bats.

In an awesome (albeit random) display of skill, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was able to notch a triple on Thursday night against the Rays, sliding miraculously around the tag of infielder Joey Wendle. Though Guerrero was only allowed to reach third due to an unfortunate dive from Tommy Pham, it was still an awesome moment.

Though slightly less daunting, the Boston Red Sox, the Blue Jays’ next opponent, should still trouble them immensely, especially given their current run of bad luck. Beginning Tuesday, the Blue Jays will host the Sox in a three-game series featuring Nathan Eovaldi (1-0, 5.77 ERA, 49 SO) and two Boston pitchers to be named later against T.J. Zeuch (0-0, 4.50 ERA, 4 SO), Trent Thornton (4-9, 5.23 ERA, 127 SO), and Clay Buchholz (1-4, 5.31 ERA, 21 SO).