Blue Jays: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly at Fenway

The Blue Jays finished off a four game series Monday night against the Boston Red Sox with a heartbreaking loss.  After tying up the game with a ninth inning home run from Vladimir Guerrero Jr, they lost it in the bottom of the ninth.  With the loss, the club split the series at two games apiece, here is a look at the Good, the Bad and the Ugly from the series.

The Good
In 1993, the Blue Jays had W.A.M.C.O. which is commonly known as the best offensive team in club history and I don’t think you can ever get another team to compete with them, but where does this lineup rank all-time? This series the Blue Jays had six different players collect at least five hits, with five of those players having multi-home run series.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr led the way going 9 for 15 (.600) with a home run in each game and a tied Teoscar Hernandez in RBI during the series with eight.  Guerrero became the first player in the majors this season to hit 20 home runs and now leads Matt Olson by four to pace the American League.  The second generation Superstar has also built up some breathing room in RBI and BA for his run at the Triple Crown this season.  There isn’t much you can say, other than right now we are watching arguably the greatest offensive seasons by a hitter in franchise history.

More from Jays Journal

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• Blue Jays win important first game after Bichette’s late inning heroics

Imagine going 8 for 19 (.421) with nine runs, two home runs and a pair of stolen bases in a series and being overshadowed.  That was Bo Bichette’s weekend as he continually found himself on base and was making things happen.  His two stolen bases give him nine on the season which puts him seventh in the American League and the only player in the top 10 without being caught.

The entire starting rotation looked good in the series, including Steven Matz who pitched into the sixth inning surrendering just one run and Robbie Ray who struck out 10 over six innings.  However, the top pitching performance goes to rookie Alek Manoah who tossed six innings, allowing just one run on four hits and a walk, while striking out five.  He fashioned off the evening by striking out the side in the sixth inning before being lifted.  In his two starts against AL East opponents (Yankees and Red Sox), Manoah has allowed one run over 12 innings while striking out 12.

The Bad
Riley Adams has had a rough go of it to start his major league career, as he has either hit the ball really hard but right at someone or struck out and looked over matched.  In this series he did hit the ball hard a couple times, one hit would have left many ball parks in the league.  Over the series he finished going 0 for 7 with four strikeouts.

In the four game series, Charlie Montoyo elected to go with Rafael Dolis in three of those games and he surrendered a run in each appearance.  In his three apperances Dolis faced 10 batters total, surrendered five hits and a walk, along with three runs which left him picking up both losses in the series.

The Ugly
Many fans, including myself are quick to blame Montoyo and rightfully so with his decision making, but when it comes down to it, management needs to get some help for the bullpen.  Jordan Romano appears to be the only arm that their is complete confidence in, while Anthony Castro and Joel Payamps are building up the trust, but that is it.  The relievers that the team were counting on this year are either out for the season or still have no timetable for return; and as such Ross Atkins needs to get the team some help.  Continually putting Dolis and Tyler Chatwood in game deciding situations is not working for the team.

The Blue Jays head back to Buffalo for a quick three-game home set against the New York Yankees before flying out to Baltimore for a weekend series.  Hyun Jin Ryu will take on Jordan Montgomery in the opener.