How does a team play as well as Toronto did sweeping the Oakland A’s this week, and then turn in such a dispirited performance that they were shut down by another no-name pitcher hurling for a team with a record almost as mediocre as their own?
Well, Friday night they did it when Jay Happ had control problems in the second inning after a brisk first, and allowed the Angels to dribble out runs until he went out after six down 3-0, and then the bullpen let the Angels pile on some insurance in the late innings. And they did it by letting this guy Parker Bridwell, whose talent on the mound far outpaces the baseball credibility of his name, mow them down like little tin soldiers, to the tune of seven and a third innings, one run, three hits, one walk, four strikeouts, and only 95 pitches.
Old friend (as if) Yunel Escobar led off the game with a ringing opposite-field double off Happ, but then the big lefty rang up Mike Trout on an 0-2 fast ball that was up and in, and fanned Albert Pujols, who went down flailing at a pitch over his head, and C.J. Cron, to strike out the side on 13 pitches and leave Escobar hanging out at second.
Bridwell started out just as well for the Angels, without the leadoff double, as Jose Bautista, Russell Martin, and Josh Donaldson went down with a big pffft! in the bottom of the first.
Then Happ came out and quickly got the first two outs in typical Happ style, fly balls, though Kevin Pillar had to run a long way to track down the second, by Kole Calhoun, but that was mainly because he was playing Calhoun the other way. Then catcher Martin Maldonado singled, and things took a nasty turn. Happ walked Shane Robinson, and gave up an RBI single to Kaleb Cowart. (What’s with these guys whose first names start with “K” rather than “C”? Kole? Kaleb? Sheesh!) Then it got even worse, as Happ lost not only the plate but the help of plate umpire Angel Hernandez; he walked Escobar and then Trout to force in the second run before fanning Pujols to end the inning.
It was a new umpiring crew after Will Little’s triple ejection the day before, but the same old story. During the second inning it was clear that Happ was frustrated with Hernandez’ strike zone, though Happ, being Happ, wasn’t obvious or aggressive about it. Even so, it was Hernandez who was confrontational, at one point stepping out from behind the plate, taking off his mask, and clearly shouting “What do you want? What do you want?” at Happ. They talked calmly at the end of the inning—again, Happ being Happ—and that seemed to resolve things, but I wonder when this business of umpires starting fights is going to stop?
In any case, after Bridwell set the Jays down in order again in the bottom of the second, the tone for the game was pretty well set: Happ had some control issues and would be hard put to go six innings if he did settle down, because he had already thrown 55 pitches after two, and Bridwell pretty much had Toronto’s batters eating out of his hand. (I’ve mixed my metaphors here; I should decide whether the Jays’ hitters are tin soldiers or squirrels . . .)
The third inning was uneventful, save for Toronto’s possibly losing Troy Tulowitzki for the rest of the year. Happ had a good comeback inning, retiring the Angels in order on only seven pitches. The Jays went down in order again—nine in a row—on only ten pitches, but the only moment that mattered was the sickening turn that Tulowitzki’s ankle took when it landed on both Cron’s foot and the bag at first at the same time. Tulo was out on a close play after a grounder to second, but all attention was on the injury-plagued shortstop as he was helped from the field, obviously through for the day, and who knew how much longer.
The fourth inning saw the Angels extend their lead with the help of a fluke play, and the Jays finally get—and strand—some base runners. In the top of the inning, Happ’s struggle with control reappeared and he walked Maldonado, but came back to fan Shane Robinson, bringing Cowart to the plate. With Goins in at short for Tulowitzki, Cowart hit a probable double-play ball to Goins, except that Happ reached for it, and deflected it just enough so that Goins didn’t have an out anywhere. With runners on first and second, Escobar flew out to right, but of course Trout knocked in Maldonado with a two-out base hit to make it 3-0.
With two outs in the bottom of the fourth, making eleven in a row for Bridwell, the Jays finally got a base runner, as Donaldson walked. Justin Smoak then hit a rocket to right centre that hit and came off the wall so hard that Donaldson had to hold at third, despite running on contact with two outs, and Smoak only got a single out of it. Morales flew out to right, and the threat was over.
After the Trout RBI, Happ retired the last seven batters he faced, and did manage to log six innings for the quality start, having allowed only the three runs on five hits.
Dominic Leone pitched a clean seventh inning, but in the eighth gave up a one-out opposite-field bloop double just inside the left-field line to Simmons, who stole third off Matt Dermody, and scored on a single by Calhoun through the pulled-in infield to make it 4-0. Chris Smith came in to finish up the inning, and managed to avoid further damage.
Smith finished off the game, but was victimized for three more runs, crowned by a two-run homer by C.J. Cron, as the Angels pulled away.
The Jays finally broke through in the eighth; Darwin Barney led off with a double, and manager Mike Sciosia pulled Bridwell with one out and Barney on second. He would eventually score when Bautista hit a ground rule double off reliever David Hernandez. With two outs and Bautista on second, Toronto was once again unable to score a possible run on a base hit by Russell Martin with a runner in scoring position, as Bautista was stopped at third, and Donaldson hit into a fielder’s choice to end the inning with only the one run chalked up against Bridwell to mar his fine outing of seven and a third innings of near-shutout ball.
At this point it’s interesting to speculate on what might have been, if Donaldson had scored on Smoak’s hit, and Bautista on Martin’s, which would have left it 4-3 going to the ninth. John Gibbons probably doesn’t bring Smith back out for the ninth, and if the Angels had been retired in order, Justin Smoak’s 29th homer in the bottom of the ninth would have tied the game.
But . . .
Toronto was behind from the top of the second and helpless against the slants of Parker Birdwell. That’s how a streak ends, not with a bang, but, well, you know.
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