Blue Jays vs. Mariners – Summary of 3-game home opening series
Long-awaited look at newly configured Rogers Centre proves inconclusive
Jury still out on “stadium-to-ballpark renovations at Rogers Centre
Maybe the lack of enthusiasm is because Blue Jays fans that were there at the ballpark this week and those across the country that check in on social media, aren’t as much into “run prevention” as is the team’s front office. Just give them some offence and they’ll be happy. Or maybe it’s because the wealthier fans that now populate the renovated lower bowl, with their cup-holders, additional legroom and seats that actually face the infield, are built-in less vocal than the masses that used to be able to afford those seats. But judging from the muted noise level at Wednesday’s Work from Dome promotion, workers that chose to attend must have been mostly librarians.
The Jays in that series finale, a 3:07 p.m. start, dropped a 6-1 decision in 10 innings, failing to sweep the three-game series vs. the Mariners, after winning the first two. So how did the stadium play? Upon further review, the new dimensions of the ballpark with less room in foul territory and more angles down the lines, seemed to have had little effect on the scores. The Jays now sit at 6-7, with six to play on the homestand vs. the Rockies (3) and Yankees (3), following an off-day on Thursday.
Opening Day seemed less special then recent past openers … for whatever reason
Other than double the normal media contingent of the field for batting practice, curious to see the changes, plus to see the opening of another season, the home opener on Monday vs. the M’s in the pre-game, in the time before ceremonies began at 7:00 p.m. seemed no different than a normal, fairly important, mid-season series. There were no stages set up in foul territory on the field for the likes of Bob McCown in his Prime or Tim and Sid in their decline, always supported by a conga line of Jays guests going live. But maybe that says more about the media than the team.
Monday’s Pre-Game Ceremonies
Never has the reception from an opening-day crowd during player introductions on the baselines been more subdued than it was this time, in year 48 of the team. Maybe it was the fact that the season was already 10 games in and the Jays were a disappointing 4-6, with just 36 runs scored to show. Not even Bo Bichette and Vlad Guerrero Jr. could reach the 15-second mark in terms of sustained ovations as they trotted out to the line. In fact, quite unofficially, the warmest applause was for coach Pete Walker, legend Davis Schneider and homegrown Jordan Romano. There was even a smattering of boos for MGR John Schneider and hitting coach Guillermo Martinez. It was a nice touch by the Jays to have the ceremonial first pitch thrown by retired coach Luis Rivera. We could have done during the intros without the infield being ringed around the edge of the outfield with what seemed to have been the construction crews that worked the renovations – call them first-responders of the new revenue sources. Then it was on to Play Ball.
M’s SERIES GAME-BY-GAME SUMMARY
@RC G1, BLUE JAYS 5 – M’s 2 ATT: 40,069 WP-Berrios LP-Castillo
The key moment of the ‘24 opener came in the fifth inning, with disaster avoided thanks to RH Jose Berrios, who had the honour of starting opening day at the Trop and then again at Rogers Centre on Monday. In the fifth inning, with Ty France going first to third on a single to centre, Kevin Kiermaier came up cleanly and fired a strike to third base that beat the runner by 10 feet. However, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, instead of tagging the runner low as he slid in, raised his glove up and tagged France somewhere near Marseilles, by which time his foot had reached the base. After the game, IKF spoke of being wary of the new obstruction rule, but that, in truth, had little to do with the play. The extra out handed to the M’s could have been a huge moment in the game, leaving one out with runners on second and third. But Berrios stepped up and struck out 3B Josh Rojas, then coerced a grounder to short by SS J.P. Crawford. He admitted that would not have happened two years ago in 2022. The big hit of the game was a two-run single looped to centre by LF Davis Schneider in the third. It was a signature win, with the way this team is constructed and needs to pull together like Ben Hur on the galley-ships. Contributions from everyone. “Ramming speed!”
@ RC G2, BLUE JAYS 5 – M’s 3 ATT: 31,310 WP-Bassitt LP-Kirby
The Jays are almost a reflection of the way the Mariners have been constructed. They both rely on a superior rotation, with a deep and talented bullpen. Both teams began the season with three key position players departed and replaced from a year ago and both have had trouble generating the run-production necessary to support their strong pitching. Here, in G2 of the series, the talented RH Chris Bassitt bested the talented RH George Kirby. If one were to just look at pitcher body language, you would think that every inning was a struggle of raw emotion for Bassitt. The best description of Bassitt’s on-field and dugout demeanour, explained with a chuckle by MGR Schneider is: “When he’s got his hands on his knees and he’s shaking himself off when he’s calling his own pitch, it’s like ‘Alright Chris.’” But once again, this second game was a team win. In the third inning, CF Daulton Varsho reached first. While RF George Springer was fouling off eight straight pitches in a 10-pitch at-bat, Kirby seemed to forget how many times he had disengaged the rubber on pickoffs. He was called for a balk for too many step-offs. Springer singled home the first run and two batters later, SS Bo Bichette hammered a home run deep to left. The bullpen did the job and the Jays won two in a row for the first time this year.
@RC G3, BLUE JAYS 1 – M’s 6 (10) ATT: 22,960 WP- Munoz LP-Mayza
There was a river of positive results come out of the extra-inning series finale, even in defeat. Starter LH Yusei Kikuchi faced his former club and tossed six solid innings of three-hit ball, with a walk and nine Ks. He left trailing 1-0. The season’s slow start for Vlad Guerrero Jr. has recently showed signs of an exciting renaissance. Facing dealing M’s starter, RH Logan Gilbert, trailing 1-0 in the seventh, Vlad crushed a fastball for a monster home run to left, with an exit velocity of 114.3 mph to tie the game. In fact, he had the two hardest-hit balls of the game and now has four balls at 103+mph in the past two games. Vlad did not hit his first Rogers Centre homer in 2023 until June 23 vs. the A’s. Wednesday’s blast, at 431 feet, would have been good in all 30 ballparks. That’s a great mindset for a struggling star as he heads to the off-day with his family in town. Another huge positive was the two innings of work supplied by RH Yimi Garcia. He was called into action to pitch to the top of the M’s order in the eighth after Vlad had tied the game. At that time facing their best hitters was more important and a tougher assignment than waiting for the ninth. But after gliding through an efficient six-pitch inning, Garcia went back out, game still tied, and struck out the side, touching three-digits on the radar-gun multiple times, with movement on his fastball. I asked Yimi post-game if he ever reached 100 mph last year and he looked up and smiled. “Never,” was all he said. Garcia and RH Chad Green have filled in as the primary high-leverage arms, admittedly sometimes walking the high-wire. Now, with the imminent return of CL Jordan Romano and RH Eric Swanson, both slated to pitch at AAA-Buffalo on Thursday, the bullpen has never looked deeper. There must be some concern with regards to the slow start of LH Tim Mayza, who began the 10th with a ghost-runner on second and a ghost-buster at the plate, Jays’ nemesis C Cal Raleigh who destroyed the first pitch for a two-run homer on the way to a five-run M’s inning. The usually reliable lefty, Mayza has allowed seven hits and six walks in 4.1 innings. The most helpful scenario might be to allow Mayza a 15-day IL stint as they go ahead and activate Swanson or Manoah for the weekend series. It’s a marathon and Mayza could be back before the end of April. LH Genesis Cabrera would be the only lefty in the pen, but Swanson handles lefthanded hitters well.
Other News:
RH Alek Manoah is slated to start on Saturday in AAA-Buffalo, if he recovers well from a side session on Thursday. While still on the IL, C Danny Jansen (right wrist) was DH on Wednesday night for the Bisons, going 2-for-3 with a grandslam. He has been catching side sessions for injured teammates and could be ready to return soon that would lengthen the batting order and allow C Alejandro Kirk to get a load off his feet and return to a split work schedule.
*RH Wes Parsons contract was sold to the Guardians for International signing money that will be available to the Jays when the Caribbean signing period begins in early July.