Blue Jays: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly against the Yankees

The Toronto Blue Jays finished off a three-game series with the New York Yankees in Buffalo on Wednesday night in a loss, however took the series two games to one.  Here is a look at the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

The Good
A series win against a divisional opponent they are battling with for playoff positioning is very good.  Going into the series the Blue Jays held a one-game lead on the Yankees and by the end of the set, they were up by two games which you can never be upset about.

More from Jays Journal

• Blue Jays were reportedly in on Andrew Benintendi talks
• Blue Jays: Kikuchi starts in what could be his biggest game of the year
• Blue Jays: Another player to cross off the prospective trade list
• Blue Jays: An upcoming opponent could be the ideal trade partner
• Blue Jays: Five players who could lose their roster spot at the deadline

No pitcher stood out over the three games as a dominant force, but I’ll give the top pitching performance to Rafael Dolis.  With the score, just 2-1 in the second game of the series Rafael Dolis came in for his third save of the season in a 1,2,3 inning that saw him collect three strikeouts. Dolis has now gone 12 appearances without allowing an earned run which dates back to August 12.

The bullpen was sharp that game as Anthony Kay and A.J. Cole both picked up holds as they each threw perfect innings as they did not allow a base runner.

Teoscar Hernandez was placed on the 10-day injured list at the beginning of the week which gave an opportunity to Jonathan Davis to get on the active roster and get into two games.  Davis hit what turned out to be the game-winning home run, a two-run shot in Game 2 that finished 2-1.  Davis would have another solid hit in Game 3 that would be just inches from being his second home run but wound up being a double, finishing the series 2 for 6.  Davis is the strongest defensive outfielder they have on their active roster and hopefully, he seizes the opportunity.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr was honored with the Player of the Week from Major League Baseball and stayed hot in this series.  Gurriel Jr finished 4 for 9 with a double and a stolen base while striking out just once.

The Bad
He is only nine games into his Blue Jays career, but what was thought as a slam dunk trade may not be. Jonathan Villar went 1 for 7 at the plate over the series and what is becoming more of a concern is his defensive play.  Villar made another two errors during the series and he has now taken the lead on the team in errors with four and is batting just .194 since joining the Blue Jays.  Hopefully, it is just a veteran player that is pushing too hard to prove himself, but these could be signs of why he has played on four teams in just over 25 months.

During the third game of the series, with the game tied 2-2 in the top of the fifth, manager Charlie Montoyo elected to pull Tanner Roark despite him throwing just 68 pitches and the team having an overworked bullpen.  Ross Stripling was summoned from the bullpen and surrendered three runs in his first inning to put the team down 5-2.  Since being acquired Stripling has pitched 7.2 IP, allowed 10 hits, and four walks for six runs (7.05 ERA and 1.83 WHIP).  While you may want to think this is just a small sample size, his numbers weren’t much better in Los Angeles to start the season.

The Ugly
While losing is never fun, you won’t typically see coaches and players around all sports make excuses for the loss whether it be officiating, injuries, or playing conditions.  However, that was exactly what the New York Yankees did after the first game of the series.  It was wildly publicized that the Yankees complained that the lighting hindered their abilities to play baseball.  It just looks ugly that you have to blame lighting as a part of your team losing, but it did bring on this comment by top Blue Jays pitching prospect Adam Kloffenstein:

The Blue Jays will finally get their first day off since August 13 before heading to New York to play the Mets.  With injuries piling up who are you looking at to step forward.