So much for a feel-good finish to a flop of a season.
While playoff-bound teams around baseball continue to celebrate and prepare for the fun times, the Blue Jays seem to be determined to continue to go meekly into October, the month the team was purportedly built to shine in.
Manager John Schneider’s last-place team was blown out by the 100-loss Miami Marlins for a second consecutive contest on Saturday at the Rogers Centre, this time in an 8-1 non-competitive effort.
In falling to 7-16 for September — by far their worst month of this season — with a record of 74-87 the Jays are now at a season’s worst 13 games below .500.
Even though the games are meaningless, Schneider has to be dismayed at his team seemingly going through the motions against one of the dregs of MLB. They’re now 1-4 on a six-game, season-ending home stand and have been outscored 23-6 by the Marlins, a fellow last-place team from the National League East.
The lost season will finally conclude on Sunday with at least the sliver of something interesting on the line. After a frustrating 0-for-4 at the plate on Saturday, Jays first baseman Vlad Guerrero Jr. remained stalled at 199 hits as he seeks to become just the sixth Jays hitter to reach the 200-hit mark.
Jays starter Yariel Rodriguez lasted five innings in his final start of the season, allowing four hits and three earned runs to take the loss. The lone Toronto run came on a first-inning homer from Nathan Lukes, the first of his big league career. It was one of just four Jays hits on the afternoon.