The Toronto Blue Jays, who entered play on Wednesday night with the worst record in the American League, dropped to 1-7 with their 2-0 loss against the Milwaukee Brewers.
The game served as a microcosm of the Jays' season, as they struggled to reach base or score. Milwaukee starter Chase Anderson, known foremost as a changeup artist, held Toronto hitless through the first three innings. By the time Anderson departed, he'd struck out seven over seven scoreless frames. The Brewers' bullpen then completed the shutout, with Corey Knebel and Neftali Feliz doing the honors.
It was the latest frustrating loss for a Blue Jays team that seems intent on compiling them:
#BlueJays in danger of losing 4th game this year in which opposition scored 3 runs or fewer. They had 8 such losses in *first half* of 2016.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) April 13, 2017
Ten Blue Jays entered Wednesday with more than 10 plate appearances on the season. Only two, Josh Donaldson and Kendrys Morales, possessed an OPS+ above 100. The same amount had negative OPS+ -- Russell Martin (-19) and Devon Travis (-14) ranked among the 14 worst hitters in the game. Oh, and Jose Bautista's output thus far? One extra-base hit: a double.
Predictably, the Jays have struggled to score runs. Their 3.3 runs per game average entering Wednesday was the third-worst in the American League, ahead of only the Houston Astros and Kansas City Royals. They also ranked among the three worst teams in the AL in each of the triple-slash categories, as well as second-to-last in home runs.
The Blue Jays' pitching staff's performance doesn't seem much better at a glance, but thier numbers are skewered by horrid appearances by Francisco Liriano and J.P. Howell, who allowed seven runs in a combined two-thirds of an inning. Pretending those outings never happened is dishonest, but it also represented the difference between allowing 4.55 runs per game and 3.59 runs per game -- the latter would have been fourth-best in the AL.
Marcus Stroman turned in another high-quality start on Wednesday, holding the Brewers to two runs over nine innings. It just didn't matter. The good news, then, for Toronto is that the lineup should improve -- and soon. Bautista and Martin are in their mid-30s, but a total collapse on either's part would be surprising. Ditto for Troy Tulowitzki and, well, almost everyone else. The bad news is the Blue Jays' start has them 4 1/2 games behind the Baltimore Orioles less than 10 games into the season.
There's a lot of time remaining between now and October. Still, the Blue Jays need the bats to get going if they want to avoid digging themselves into an early grave.
