The Toronto Blue Jays fell flat on Canada Day at their home away from home in the U.S.A.
“In a game, as a player, there are times when you might get overexcited or something,” Blue Jays lefty Hyun Jin Ryu said through a translator, after struggling with his command, “but it’s just one of those things I have to control.”
Ryu lasted only four innings as the Seattle Mariners jumped to an early lead and secured a 7-2 victory, taking the rubber match of the three-game series on Thursday afternoon before an announced crowd of 5,456 at Sahlen Field.
Murphy played three years at UB and was MAC Player of the Year in 2011 after batting .384 with 10 homers and 44 RBIs in 52 games. He was a third-round pick by the Colorado Rockies out of UB in 2012.
Ryu (7-5) gave up five runs, four of them earned, on seven hits. He walked two and struck out two.
Yusei Kikuchi (6-3) earned the victory for Seattle after allowing one run on five hits in seven innings. The lefty struck out six and walked one.
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Toronto had won eight of its previous 10 games after a five-game skid in mid-June.
The Blue Jays are playing home games in Buffalo, home of their Triple-A affiliate Buffalo Bisons, for the second consecutive season because of Covid-19 restrictions that prevent playing in Canada.
“This is one of those days that – we miss Toronto every day – but this is one of those days that it would have been great to be in Toronto and seen all the red and the full house and all the stuff,” Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said during a video conference call with reporters before the game. “Buffalo has been great to us. Don’t get me wrong. But today is one of those days that, man, I wish we were in Toronto with all the fans and the red. It would have been great, because I’ve seen it, how awesome it is.
“So today’s one of those days that we really miss Toronto.”
Second baseman Dylan Moore's three-run homer in the top of the 10th inning Wednesday night s…
The Blue Jays maintained their tradition of recognizing Canada Day by wearing red jerseys with white lettering, the same design they wore from 2017 through 2019. The Jays did not play on Canada Day last season because the 2020 Major League Baseball season, shortened because of the Covid-19 pandemic, had yet to begin.
In 2019, the Jays marked the occasion with red uniforms, unfurled a gigantic Canadian flag in the outfield before the game at Rogers Centre, gave out denim hats with a red maple leaf logo and set off fireworks. They defeated the Kansas City Royals 11-4 behind a season high 18 hits.
None of the typical pageantry, other than the players’ red jerseys, occurred on Thursday. Both the American and Canadian flags were flying at half staff beyond the outfield wall.
Canada Day, which is celebrated each year on July 1, marks the joining of the country’s original three provinces as one dominion in 1867.
But the holiday has long been panned by First Nations communities because of Canada’s history of colonization and violence against Indigenous people, and a movement to cancel celebrations was ratcheted up this year, after more than 750 unmarked graves thought to contain the remains of Indigenous children were recently discovered at former residential schools in Saskatchewan and Kamloops.
The Blue Jays pinned a statement, along with a photo of the flags at half staff and the image of a large orange ribbon on the outfield wall, atop their official Twitter account:
“On our nation’s birthday,” it read, “we pause to remember and honour the generations of stolen Indigenous children and residential school survivors, and reaffirm our belief in reconciliation for a better Canada.”
Orange Shirt Day, a Canadian holiday also known as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, has been observed each year since 2013.
The Blue Jays have two Canadian-born players on the roster – relief pitcher Jordan Romano, who leads the team with six saves but did not play Thursday, and burgeoning star Vladimir Guerrero Jr., whose fielding error at first base contributed to the Mariners’ early lead.
Seattle took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Kyle Seager opened the scoring with an infield single to third that scored J.P. Crawford, and advanced on a fielding error by Guerrero, who failed to handle the throw. Ty France knocked in the second run with a sacrifice fly to center field.
Marcus Semien chopped the deficit in half in the bottom of the frame, lifting a 91.4 mph cutter over the wall in left field for a solo home run, his 20th homer of the season.
But the Mariners answered right back in the second, when Jake Fraley belted his sixth home run of the season, lining an 81 mph changeup over the wall in right field for a 3-1 lead.
Shed Long Jr. hammered a two-run homer to right-center field in the third, connecting with a 90 mph fastball to give the Mariners a 5-1 advantage.
The Blue Jays didn’t have a runner in scoring position until Teoscar Hernandez reached on a leadoff double down the right field line in the bottom of the seventh. He advanced to third on a wild pitch, but George Springer and Randal Grichuk struck out and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. grounded out to short.
Semien, who finished 3-for-4, doubled with two outs in the eighth and scored on a single to shallow right-center field by Bo Bichette, trimming the Jays’ deficit to 5-2. But Guerrero struck out to end the threat, ending his day 0-for-3, including his ground out into an inning-ending double play in the sixth.
Seattle tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the ninth, when Tyler Chatwood issued a pair of walks and Seager and Jake Bauers made him pay with RBI singles to right. Chatwood hadn’t pitched since last Friday because of a stiff neck, Montoyo said.
The Blue Jays had two on with no outs in the bottom of the ninth, after Paul Sewald surrendered a leadoff single to Hernandez and walked Springer.
Grichuk, Gurriel and Cavan Biggio struck out.
“We play to win every day,” Montoyo said, “so we’ll do the same thing tomorrow and the next day and the next day. That’s how I see it. Every game counts and we’re going to play tomorrow to win, just like we did today.”
The Blue Jays have an overall record of 15-27 on Canada Day. They are 13-18 at home (2-7 at Exhibition Stadium, 11-10 at Rogers Centre and 0-1 at Sahlen Field). They are 2-9 on the road. They did not play a game on Canada Day in 1981, 1993 and last season.
Toronto is 7-8 at Sahlen Field this season after going 17-9 here a year ago.
The Blue Jays will conclude a 10-game homestand with a three-game series against Tampa Bay beginning Friday, when Alek Manoah will start following a five-game suspension for intentionally throwing at Baltimore Orioles third baseman Maikel Franco on June 19.
Manoah plans to wear red Nikes featuring a repeating maple leaf pattern and the Toronto skyline.
