GDB 29.0: Blue Jays’ offensive struggles continue

Photo credit: © John E. Sokolowski - USA Today
By Zach Laing
Apr 28, 2024, 09:00 EDTUpdated: Apr 28, 2024, 13:44 EDT
To say it’s been a rough run for the Blue Jays would be an understatement.
In Saturday’s loss to the Dodgers, the club set a franchise record for the longest strech without holding a lead, at 37 innings. Yes, that’s right. 37 innings of baseball and not a single lead.
Their last lead was all the way back on last Tuesday, when they had a 1-0 lead over the Royals after the top of the third, and since it’s been all bad.
They can’t seem to score with RISP and they’re struggling to get much of anything going, to be honest, dropping five straight games. While the early season road trip was undoubtedly tough on the club, they returned home and had a nice run, winning three series at home and another on the road against the Padres. Then, the Royals shut down the Jays in Kansas, and the Dodgers have had their way this weekend at the Rogers Center.
Today’s game will see Kevin Gausman take the mound for the Jays and Michael Grove for the Dodgers in what appears to be a bullpen day. Let’s see if the Jays can muster up anything.
First pitch:
1:37 p.m. EST. TV & Radio: Sportsnet.
Starting pitchers:
| Name | Team | GS | W | L | IP | ERA | xERA | ERA- | FIP | WHIP | K/9 | BB/9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5 | 0 | 3 | 21.0 | 5.57 | 6.33 | 146 | 4.30 | 1.57 | 7.71 | 2.57 | ||
5 | 2 | 1 | 25.0 | 4.68 | 4.14 | 117 | 3.68 | 1.44 | 6.48 | 4.32 |
Teams:

– Data via Baseball-Reference
Lineups:
BLUE JAYS:
- G Springer (R) RF
- V Guerrero Jr. (R) DH
- B Bichette (R) SS
- J Turner (R) 1B
- D Schneider (R) LF
- D Varsho (L) CF
- I Kiner-Falefa (R) 3B
- A Kirk (R) C
- C Biggio (L) 2B
DODGERS:
- M Betts (R) SS
- S Ohtani (L) DH
- F Freeman (L) 1B
- T Hernández (R) LF
- M Muncy (L) 3B
- A Pages (R) RF
- J Outman (L) CF
- G Lux (L) 2B
- A Barnes (R) C
Need to bide the time until first pitch?
Tune into the latest edition of Blue Jays Nation Radio as the crew talks about all the happenings in Toronto and beyond.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
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