Yet another late-game heartbreaker as the Blue Jays drop a winnable series in Boston

Things worth mentioning…

• I had hoped heading into the series that facing the Red Sox and their abysmal pitching would help bring the Blue Jays’ bats to life. That didn’t happen. The team managed just eight runs in the three-game series, which is an even lower output than the 3.12 runs-per-game they had rolling into Boston. When you’re facing Ryan Weber, Zack Godley, and Boston’s create-a-player bullpen, that isn’t ideal.
• On the positive side, we saw some nice offensive flashes from some key players in Toronto’s lineup. Vlad Jr. had his best series of 2020, picking up four hits, a couple of walks, and a double. He’s now 7-for-21 in August with four extra-base hits. Bo Bichette also had a solid series, hitting a homer in Game 3 while picking up doubles in the first two games. The issue is lower in the order, where Randal Grichuk, Travis Shaw, and Rowdy Tellez haven’t been able to cash-in with runners on base.
• Pitching, on the other hand, was the true positive from the series and it continues to be the team’s strength. Outside of Tanner Roark’s ugly start in Game 1, there were plenty of performances to like this weekend from Toronto’s arms.
• On Sunday, Matt Shoemaker had a nice bounce-back outing after getting smacked around in Atlanta. Shoemaker went six innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on three hits without issuing a single walk. The issue for Shoemaker (beyond his hilariously bad infield defence) was keeping the ball in the yard, as he allowed homers to Mitch Moreland and Rafael Devers. But, ultimately, Shoemaker looked much, much better than he did in his second start, as he kept the ball in the zone and generated a lot of whiffs, especially with his splitter.

• Ryan Borucki came out of the ‘pen in the seventh inning and continued to be untouchable. The lefty struck out the side, giving him four shutout innings on the season. Borucki operated with a sinker-slider combination, hitting 95 miles-per-hour with the sinker and throwing a wipeout slider that sat in the high-80s range. Andrew Miller, anyone?

• Thomas Hatch came into the game in the eighth inning and also struck out the side, but he would end up taking the loss as he allowed a walk-off two-run homer to Mitch Moreland. Hatch was great, so it’s a shame to see the L attached to his name, as that meatball to Moreland was really the only mistake he made in his outing.
• All told, outside of Roark, the Blue Jays pitchers combined to allow seven runs across 24 innings of work, scattering just nine hits and seven walks while collecting a whopping 30 strikeouts. Man oh man, if the bats can ever come around.