Blue Jays drop fifth game in a row as pitching woes continue

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At no point this season have the Blue Jays suffered the ignominy of being swept at home.

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At no point this season have they looked this bad.

Three games against the visiting Texas Rangers and three times the Jays have trailed by large margins, including Saturday’s 7-4 setback as the clubs played their third of a four-game series.

Toronto can’t pitch, and its season-long ineptitude at the plate shows no signs of improving.

Fans are growing impatient at the lack of offence, especially when it comes to the ongoing struggles of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who was the team’s DH on Saturday. Guerrero went 0-for-5 with a strikeout.

Cries for change can be heard, but no one associated with the Blue Jays appears to be listening.

The reality of the Jays’ plight is that unless the club’s big bats come to life, frustrating games will become the norm.

Those looking for any positive development can point to the two home runs hit Saturday by the Jays, who trailed 6-0 and 7-2 to the Rangers en route to their fifth loss in a row — one away from matching their season high.

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The truth is the Jays are positively bad and have become virtually unwatchable. This season-high 10-game homestand against teams they are battling against for an American League wild-card berth, was shaping up as a time to right this ship.

Instead, it has gone from bad to worse to the potential of being embarrassed Sunday if a sweep isn’t avoided against the Rangers, who have scored a combined 18 runs in their three wins.

A 1-5 home stretch is not what was needed, to say the least.

Just to save face, the Jays will need to win their next four before venturing west for nine games as the all-star break awaits.

The following are three takeaways from a desultory day at the ball park, a day when the Jays’ record fell to 39-44, while Texas improved to 41-42.

PITCHING PROBLEMS PREVAIL

An over-used bullpen becomes the unintended consequence when no length is provided by starters.

It seems laughable to even think about it, but there was a time well before the season’s first pitch was thrown when many believed the Jays had too many starting pitchers.

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The way things have been going, the number of reliable starters in the rotation would be difficult to list.

Kevin Gausman was the last starter to pitch a quality outing when he gave up only one hit, a homer, to the visiting New York Yankees on June 13.

His past two outings have been bad.

Dylan Cease had never walked as many as five hitters this season, but he reached that level of mediocrity against the Rangers on Saturday.

A rough first inning set the tone for the righty’s performance, which was well below standards.

While he recorded 10 strikeouts, the five free passes issued were very hard to overlook, ditto the four earned runs in 4 2/3 innings.

Simply put, the Jays’ starting pitching has not been good and Cease was not good Saturday.

KEYS TO SUCCESS

In his major-league debut, Sean Keys started at first base for the Blue Jays and hit sixth in the order.

Among the issues plaguing the Jays, power ranks very high, the primary reason why the 23-year-old was selected to the active roster on a day the Jays made a handful of roster moves.

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The one that stood out the most involved Keys.

The player with the highest profile is Davis Schneider, but he hasn’t distinguished himself and was justifiably sent down to Buffalo.

Yohendrick Pinango was called up, but it’s obvious his outfield defence, which is not good, hasn’t changed.

Equally clear is that Pinango’s bat packs a punch, as evidenced by his two-run homer in the fifth inning.

The other bit of news involved Jesus Sanchez being placed on the 10-day IL (right ankle sprain).

The key move, no pun intended, was Keys, who has split time at third base and first base since college.

In 67 minor-league games, Keys went deep 24 times.

Keys popped out to short in his first at-bat, went down swinging in his second and then produced his milestone moment when he singled in the sixth inning.

The announced crowd of 41,657 acknowledged the feat by giving Keys a resounding ovation.

Keys led off the home half of the eighth inning and flew out to shallow centre.

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KIRK COMES TO LIFE

Since his return following an extended injury absence from a fractured thumb, Alejandro Kirk has shown no signs of his former self.

A positive sign finally emerged when Kirk went deep to lead off the sixth inning.

To illustrate how bad Kirk has been at the plate, consider that his blast Saturday was only the second extra-bast hit the two-time all-star catcher has recorded since his return.

Speaking of all-stars, it’s an absolute joke so many players on the Jays’ roster have advanced to Phase 2 in a voting process that is tantamount to a popularity contest.

Saturday marked Kirk’s 16th game of the season.

He brought a batting average of .192 into the game.

All-star voting has turned into a complete and utter joke.

UP NEXT

Shane Bieber gets another kick at the can after getting kicked around in his season debut against Houston when the Astros recorded nine hits, including three home runs, in limiting the right-hander to 3.1 innings; Texas counters with RHP Kumar Rocker in Sunday’s series finale (1:37 p.m. first pitch).

fzicarelli@postmedia.com

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