Blue Jays score an invigorating win over Twins as more bullpen questions arise

MINNEAPOLIS — So it was the top of 10th at Target Field Sunday, just after Jordan Romano gambled away his fourth save of the season and gave up a one-run lead in the ninth.

Whit Merrifield started the inning second, and he’s really fast, beating Byron Buxton’s throw into third place after a mid-deep flyball from Santiago Espinal to start the inning. And so, incredibly — re-rating seemed to show Merrifield was clearly out — he beat Tim Beckham’s throw home after throwing a flat, medium Cavan Biggio flyball a pitch later.

Hey, the Blue Jays gonna take it. A bit of luck. A catcher’s knee that went down too early and blocked Merrifield’s path to the plate. One that eventually went her way. That gave Romano a fresh one-run lead, which he was able to defend by finishing 10th. And in a brave performance, the Blue Jays mowed down three straight twins – Jose Miranda, Nick Gordon and Gio Urshela – closer to bring his team back from the abyss and earn a 3-2 victory on the road.

It was an invigorating result considering the previous back-and-forth, not to mention the six scoreless innings the Blue Jays got from starter Kevin Gausman, who is now running a 14-inning shutout streak in his last two starts.

Gausman was up to his usual tricks, mixing raised fastballs with splinters diving under the zone and just enough sliders to remind right-handers he had it. He allowed baserunners in five of his six innings, but the Twins never threatened to concede, as Gausman upped the intensity when needed, resorting to 96s and even some 97s at critical points.

Gausman’s success was based on his mastery of this fastball, allowing only three balls over 100 mph and none harder than 102.5 in the game while using Target Field’s limits to his advantage and scoring eight flyball outs. And even though he hit 13 swinging strikes — six with his splitter, five with his fastball and two with his slider — it was still a day when Gausman relied on the defense behind him more often than usual.

That high number of balls in play and the constant traffic he was thrown through may have been part of the rationale for interim manager John Schneider, who ripped Gausman after the sixth with just 84 pitches and the end of Minnesota’s rank. No one would have blinked if Gausman had come back for another one.

But Anthony Bass was crisp in the seventh, and although Yimi Garcia allowed a run in the eighth thanks to a single, long, single sequence, the ball landed with a run lead at Romano in the ninth. That has often been good enough this season, but not on Sunday, when Romano scored Carlos Correa with a 2-0 heater and eventually let him round out the base of singles from Gary Sanchez and Luis Arraez.

Meanwhile, the Blue Jays got Twins starter Chris Archer for one in the second when Bo Bichette doubled home Teoscar Hernandez’s lead-off single, and another in the third when Lourdes Gurriel Jr. with a single in Cavan Biggio drove. But they probably should have done more damage considering how well they kept Archer balanced and put eight balls in play at 95 mph or harder.

The Blue Jays made four outs against Archer on balls in the game with expected batting averages over .440, including a 104-mph lineout by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. who fell short in the first, a 105-mph laser by Alejandro Kirk , to double a batter later, and a 106-mph Matt Chapman grounder short in the fourth. Toronto’s at-bats were noticeably calmer for the remainder of the afternoon as the Twins’ bullpen threw four scoreless innings of relief behind Archer before the Extras.

Similarly quietly, this week’s series has gained traction against the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles went on Sunday after winning five straight games and moving up the American League wildcard rankings despite selling Trey Mancini and Jorge Lopez at last week’s close. Just one game from a playoff berth and three from Toronto when Sunday’s game began, Baltimore had come uncomfortably close to a Blue Jays team that had played .500 ball for the past week and a half.

Sure, it’s easy to say Baltimore can’t keep winning like it did with a rotation of Jordan Lyles and Austin Voth. But you could have said that a month ago. Like it or not, Baltimore keeps winning — clipping .614 (35-22) since early June. And of the 54 games the Blue Jays have left, 15 come against the Orioles. At the start of this season, it was easy to look back at that backward schedule and see an easy opportunity for Toronto to rack up wins leading to the playoffs. Not so much now.

Baltimore’s surge was partially fueled by production from Adleyrutschman, who is finally delivering his pedigree of best prospects, hitting 0.343/0.495/0.562 over the past month. rutschman’s weakness this season has been against left-handed pitching, which has kept him on a .155/.286/.224 line through 70 plate appearances. Withrutschman batting second behind left-hander Cedric Mullins, the Orioles have a pocket at the top of their lineup that any opposing manager would love to counter late in games with a left-handed reliever.

Just one problem for the Blue Jays – they don’t currently have one. After Tim Mayza dislocated his right shoulder on Saturday, Toronto’s bullpen is right-handed only. Trevor Richards has had significant reverse splits throughout his career, and Yimi Garcia has neutralized lefties to a .157/.241/.294 line this season. But it stands to reason that the Blue Jays would want to sneak at least one true left-handed option up their bullpen.

Matt Gage could be that guy. He joined the Blue Jays in Minneapolis in the club’s taxi squadron on Sunday morning after throwing a scoreless inning for the Buffalo Bisons in a Scranton time zone the night before. It would have been a bit much to ask for Gage to be available for such a quick turnaround after a sleepless night. But he could be a possibility in Baltimore this week.

And the 29-year-old rookie impressed during an 11-game MLB stint earlier this season by allowing just two earned runs across 13 innings while hitting a dozen before getting caught in a roster shuffle. Toronto’s player rating model identified Gage as an upward play last offseason, and all he’s done since is prove him right, throwing to identical 1.38 ERAs in both Triple-A and the majors . There’s no denying he deserves a run.

Alongside Gage is Foster Griffin, who the club acquired from the Kansas City Royals in a small deal before the All-Star break. The dashing 27-year-old has since gone five goalless games for the Bisons but has struggled with the Royals at the big league level this season, allowing six earned runs in 4.1 innings.

There’s Tayler Saucedo, who has been on the injured list since his hip injury in April. Saucedo has been back in contention with Buffalo for a while, and has posted a .75 ERA with 15 strikeouts and six walks over 12 innings since late June. One obstacle, however, is that the Blue Jays need to create a 40-man roster spot for Saucedo, who is currently in 60-day IL and halfway through a second rehab stint that began July 24.

Aside from those three – Anthony Kay has been out for over a month – the Blue Jays will have to look outside for left-handed help. And wouldn’t you know, Jake McGee is floating around on waivers for the second time in four weeks.

McGee was dominant just a season ago, posting a 2.72 ERA and 3.35 FIP with 20.1 K-BB% from the San Francisco Giants bullpen. He spent much of the year serving as goalkeeper for a 107-win club, converting 31 saves into 35 opportunities.

That success didn’t carry over into 2022, however, when McGee imploded after a series of rough May outings and ended up on the injured list with strains in his lower back. He found better results on his return as he stringed together nine goalless games from late May to mid-June and regained his leverage role. But a four-call span in which he allowed six runs for nine hits convinced the Gaints they had seen enough, and the team picked him for the call in early July.

McGee eventually found his way to the Brewers on a minor league deal, but the change of scene didn’t affect his results as he’s now back on waivers after allowing four runs to seven in six games with Milwaukee. The biggest problem for McGee, no matter where he’s played this season, has been a significant drop in strikeout rate, from 41.8 percent with the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020 to 24.3 percent in 2021 and now increased to 12.4 percent in 2022.

It’s hard to say why McGee’s stuff suddenly stopped being effective. He’s always been a fastball-dominant pitcher, using his heater more than 90 percent of the time in each of the last two seasons. But he’s given up an incredible damage rate with it this year – a .401 wOBA against it. He’s throwing the pitch as hard as ever, averaging 94.6 mph, and using it much like last season. It just doesn’t get the same results.

Part of the problem could be McGee’s slider, which has lost significant movement in recent seasons as he’s started throwing it harder. Big hitters just aren’t tempted by that, swinging on McGee’s Slider just 38 percent of the time this year after offering the last two over 50 percent. But that’s still a pitch he only uses 16 percent of the time. He lives and dies with his fastball.

Do the Blue Jays see anything in McGee’s delivery that could be tweaked to make his heater play like it used to in the Zone? Could they help him regain what he lost on his slider and make him more tempting for hitters? Is it unrealistic to expect these kinds of adjustments to be made and take hold within a few weeks? Those are the questions the Blue Jays need to ask themselves when considering McGee.

Another, perhaps more pressing question – what other options do they have? Gage deserves a closer look and Saucedo appears to be on form at Triple-A, but the Blue Jays would certainly feel better if these two offered depth behind someone more tested. What is certain is that even after acquiring two helpers at last week’s close, Toronto’s bullpen will remain a fluid situation in the coming weeks. And it could be tested this week at Camden Yards against a club no one should take lightly anymore.