The Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB) have lost four straight after a shocking sweep. Against a team in contention. It was a watershed moment. The series was supposed to give them a leg up in the wild-card race, but instead they collapsed and lost ground. Is this how far fall baseball has come for Ryu Hyun-jin (36, Toronto Blue Jays)?

The Toronto Blue Jays fell to 2-9 in their 2023 Major League Baseball (MLB) home opener against the Texas Rangers at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada, on Friday.

It was a shocking sweep of the four-game series against Texas. Toronto’s record is now 80-67 on the season. With 147 games played this season, Toronto sits in third place in the American League East. Third place is virtually assured. They are 11.5 games back of the first-place Baltimore Orioles (91-55, .623 winning percentage) and 10.5 games back of the second-place Tampa Bay Rays (91-57, .615 winning percentage).

Toronto now sits in the top three wild-card spots and has its sights set on fall baseball. It’s safe to say that the first wild card spot is in the hands of Tampa Bay. The Rays are now threatening Baltimore, which is in first place in the division. Toronto was originally in second place. Before the four-game series with Texas, Toronto was in second place, one game ahead of the third-place Seattle Mariners and 1.5 games ahead of fourth-place Texas.

However, the Rays’ four-game losing streak has dropped them to fourth place, behind both Texas and Seattle. Texas is now 2.5 games ahead of Toronto in second place, and Seattle is 1.5 games back of Toronto in third. Toronto now has 15 games left, while Seattle and Texas each have 16. That’s not a bad ride at all.

After the first game against Texas, starting pitcher Bassitt “showed emotion”… Back to the venom
My biggest regret was dropping the first game against Texas. In the 4-10 loss, Ryu’s teammate Chris Bassitt, 34, lost control of his emotions by “oohing and aahing” for a moment. In the top of the second inning, with runners on second and third and a big lead, Mitch Garber suddenly started charging toward third base. At the time, Toronto third baseman Cavan Biggio made a shift at shortstop that left third base completely empty, which Garber took advantage of. The problem was that the third throw to third was a walk with no outs, allowing Garber to score for free, and Bassett was done for the game, allowing five runs on nine hits (one home run), three walks, and three strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.

The next day, Hyun-jin Ryu took the mound with a lot of pressure on his shoulders and did his job, allowing three runs on five hits in six innings (82 pitches) with one walk and five strikeouts. The next day, Toronto sent Japanese pitcher Yusei Kikuchi to the mound, but he too was unable to get any support from the team’s bats, falling to a 3-6 defeat and snapping a two-game losing streak. The next day, Toronto sent Japanese pitcher Yusei Kikuchi to the mound, but he too collapsed, giving up six runs (six earned) on five hits, two walks, and three strikeouts in five innings. It was the third straight loss for Toronto after the first day’s unexpected defeat.

In the fourth and final game of the day, Toronto collapsed. Toronto ace Kevin Gausman came out to try to end the losing streak, but he couldn’t handle the Texas offense. In the end, he didn’t even make it through the fifth inning after giving up four runs on six hits (two home runs) with six walks and five strikeouts in 4⅔ innings. Tim Mayza and Eric Swanson then combined for 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief, but Trevor Richards, the fourth pitcher to take the mound in the top of the eighth, collapsed without recording a single out, giving up three hits, two walks and striking out five. The Rays’ pitching staff gave up 11 hits on just four pitches on the day, falling to 2-9. The Toronto bats went cold as well. They managed just four hits in the game.

In the top of the first inning, Texas jumped out to an early lead when Corey Seager hit a solo shot to right-center field (1-0), but Toronto didn’t go down without a fight. In the bottom of the inning. With the bases loaded, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a two-run shot over the left field fence.(1-2) Texas answered right back. After Marcus Semien drew a walk with two outs in the top of the second, Seager followed with a two-run double to left field.(3-2) After Toronto missed a two-out opportunity in the bottom of the second, Texas added another run in the top of the third. With the bases loaded, Jonah Heim hit a mid-month solo shot to center field.(4-2)

From there, it was a back-and-forth pitching battle between the two teams until Toronto finally collapsed in the eighth inning. After Duran led off with a double to right-center, Carter walked to put runners on first and second. The Toronto pitching coach made one visit to the mound, but Semien followed with a double to left (5-2), and after Seager was thrown out at the plate on an automatic double play, the next batter, Lowe, followed with an RBI single up the middle to extend the lead to 7-2. Taveras followed with an infield single to load the bases, and Grossman drew a bases-loaded walk.(8-2) That wasn’t the end of it, as Heim retired the side on a wild pitch, but Smith followed with an infield sacrifice fly to center to make it 9-2.

Texas starter Nathan Ivaldi didn’t make it out of the fourth inning, allowing three runs (two earned) on three hits with three walks and three strikeouts, but the bullpen that followed protected the lead. The 12-hit offense was led by Seager, who went 4-for-3 with a home run, three RBIs, two runs scored and one walk, while Grossman, Haim and Duran also had multi-hit games.스포츠토토

Of course, Toronto still has hopes of making the postseason. However, the remaining schedule is daunting: three games against the Boston Red Sox, who are in the same American League East division, six against the New York Yankees, and six against the Tampa Bay Rays. As a result, it’s a bitter pill to swallow for Toronto, who lost the first game because Bassitt got carried away and the offense couldn’t get going despite Ryu’s strong pitching. Whether or not Ryu will be ready for fall ball this season depends on how Toronto performs in the remaining games.