The signs of a Blue Jays season that can’t end soon enough were everywhere on Friday night at the Rogers Centre.
They were present in the cardboard moving boxes and suitcases that were rapidly filling up in the home clubhouse prior to what would be a miserable Game 160.
The sentiment certainly prevailed among a less than enthusiastic and blindly loyal crowd of 31,597 who found it in their hearts to show up for a meaningless game against the 100-loss moribund Marlins of Florida.
And finally, in a season where next to nothing has gone right for the Jays, not even Jose Berrios could escape the misery on a late September night.
The right-hander, who had been aces of late, was chased after three innings with six runs allowed on six hits as the Jays tottered to a less-than-crisp 15-5 loss.
As painful as the past two months have been, until Friday the Berrios brilliance has been an outstanding outlier as the consistent right-hander fashioned a stretch that entrenched his status as the team’s top starter heading into the off-season.
In those eight starts, the personable Puerto Rican had allowed just nine earned runs for a skimpy 1.51 ERA. The 30-year-old has been the rock of a Jays rotation that has teetered at times this season, winning a career-high 16 times and delivering eight consecutive quality starts prior to Friday’s wobble.
In a wayward season that was lost long ago, the overall strong finish by Berrios was a testament to the professionalism lauded by his coaches and teammates.
“It was uncharacteristic out of him,” manager John Schneider said. “But you look back at his year he’s been awesome. He’s been consistent. He’s been reliable. He’s been really damn good. Looking at his overall body of work he should be really proud of the things that he did on and off the field.”
Schneider had hoped one more outing would have been the cherry on top and a treat for the fans appreciative of his excellence for so long this season.
“In a perfect world you get hit out in the sixth and the seventh and you give him an ovation with a nice lead to recognize his year,” Schneider said. “It was just a struggle from the get-go.”
For the second consecutive start, Berrios fell short of his 100th career, a milestone that he has acknowledged is a meaningful one to him. He also became just the second Jays pitcher to log 32 starts and 140 strikeouts in three consecutive seasons joining Dave Stieb (who did it for four years from 1982-85) in that department. Berrios has hit that 32-start mark for six consecutive seasons now.
That said, one ragged outing won’t diminish what has been a sparkling season under trying conditions for a pitcher who has emerged as the heart of the rotation.
“His arsenal for sure,” fellow starter Kevin Gausman said when asked what has made Berrios stand out. “He’s a wizard. The way he can make a ball move in a lot of different directions as you’ve seen this year with his cutter.
“Obviously his start streak is really impressive. The reason why he’s called La Makina is because he’s the machine. He’s a fierce competitor and I love watching him pitch.”
One Friday in a game that had serious spring training vibes won’t dull that feeling.
GAME ON
One of the few remaining elements to track with the team – Vlad Guerrero’s chase of 200 hits – moved ever so close to the milestone number. Guerrero sits at 199 with two games remaining after he belted out singles in the first and eighth innings. Guerrero also managed to get the crowd excited with a loud bases-loaded sacrifice fly ball to deep centre in the sixth inning, that drove in a run … Scoring highlight for the Jays was a fourth-inning solo home run from Ernie Clement, his 12th of the season … It has not exactly been a sprint to the meaningless finish line for the Jays, who have lost six of her past seven and are a woeful 7-15 in September… With the latest loss, the Jays fell to 39-40 at the Rogers Centre … It was the 16th time the Jays have allowed an opponent to pile up double-digit runs on them this season and the most they’ve surrendered since the Yankees piled 16 on at the dome back in Game 82 on June 28 … In a game that took an excruciating three hours and seven minutes to complete, the Jays and Marlins combined for 29 hits.
AROUND THE BASES
Despite the Chris Bassitt bravado from the other night aside, he will not start Sunday as he originally declared. “I know he was very adamant, but it’s not going to be Chris on Sunday,” Schneider said. “He’s got a lot of innings and a lot of pitches, there’s no need for him to go out and throw another 100 pitches. We have a lot of other options to do that.” … The Jays currently have the Sunday assignment as TBA. Yarial Rodriguez gets the ball for Saturday’s penultimate contest … Spotted in the Jays clubhouse and dugout cast on hand, Bo Bichette, back with the team after finger surgery earlier in the week.