José Berríos and Yu Darvish duelled, but Toronto’s bats were nowhere to be found in 2-0 loss to Padres

Things worth mentioning

• While in line for the loss, Jose Berrios had a good night on the mound. Berrios had a steady mix of his pitches throughout his entire start; his sinker, slurve, fastball, and changeup all had usage percentages between 24% and 31%. For the night, he went 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 9 K’s, the first time he’s had 9 strikeouts since April 25th.
• Berrios fell victim to an unlucky top of the fifth, as the Padres worked the bases loaded without recording a hit. Berrios would walk Trent Grisham on four pitches, and follow that up by hitting Ha-Seong Kim on a pitch that appeared to only graze the front of his jersey. With two outs and runners still on first and second, the Padres attempted a double-steal that Berrios was able to put a play on. The Jays had Grisham caught between second and third, but Bo Bichette’s throw to third took Matt Chapman’s glove away from the runner, and both runners advanced 90 feet safely. Juan Soto was intentionally walked after getting ahead 3-0 to load the bases, and Manny Machado singled in a pair of runs on a broken-bat single. It appeared to be a pitch that was located well by Berrios – a sinking fastball in on the hands of Machado – but that’s just what a good hitter does.
• Yu Darvish kept himself out of trouble for most of the night, shutting out the Blue Jays through six innings. That’s not to say that Toronto didn’t have their chances, because they did. The Jays loaded the bases with two outs in the first inning, but Whit Merrifield lined out to second to end the threat. In the fifth inning, Bichette and Brandon Belt got on with two outs, but Vladimir Guerrero Jr. grounded out softly to first on the first pitch he saw, an approach that drew the ire of many Jays fans.

• The Jays trashed another golden opportunity in the bottom of the eighth with reliever Nick Martinez on the mound for San Diego. Bichette and Belt singled with no one out to lead off the frame, but Martinez sat down Guerrero Jr., Chapman, and Merrifield in order to end the inning.
• One of the biggest positives on the night was Yimi Garcia, who pitched his 12th consecutive scoreless outing tonight. He hasn’t allowed a run since June 17th, lowering his ERA from 5.83 to 4.31 in that span. Elsewhere in the bullpen, Tim Mayza retired Soto and Machado at a critical point in the 9th, continuing to add to his stellar season. Finally, while he didn’t enter the game, Jordan Romano was up in the bullpen getting loose, which was a good sign since he was removed from the All-Star game last week due to an injury.

ARTICLE PRESENTED BY BETANO