NEW YORK — Doubleheaders tend to be disruptive and their impact can be felt for days, especially on the pitching side. Still, the Toronto Blue Jays looked to be in excellent shape for Sunday’s twin-bill versus the New York Yankees, with workhorses Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt lined up to start, a rested bullpen and off-days framing the double-dip.
After a clean 12-pitch first and a six-pitch second, the day began unravelling on Gausman during a third inning that was wild both literally and figuratively. The veteran righty suddenly lost the zone, grew frustrated over a few borderline ball calls by home-plate umpire Chris Conroy, issued five walks, two with the bases loaded, and on his jaw-dropping 53rd pitch of the frame, matching a club record, gave up a three-run double to Austin Wells that mercifully ended his afternoon.
For good measure, Gausman was ejected walking off the field after sharing a few thoughts with Conroy, with manager John Schneider getting tossed two innings later after arguing a called strike against Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the fifth.
The game went downhill after the Yankees’ six-run third, as Paxton Schultz, a candidate to help fill Wednesday’s rotation vacancy, needed 57 pitches to get through 2.1 innings, and was followed by Josh Walker and Dillon Tate in what finished as an 11-2 loss.
Bassitt will be counted on to stabilize things in the night-cap, but the Blue Jays, having activated outfielder Jonatan Clase as the 27th man for the doubleheader, are suddenly out of margin-for-error.
For Gausman, as strange as the outing was, the more immediate concern will be whether there are any after-effects from his staggering pitch count in that fateful third.
Typically, clubs start pulling the reins on their pitchers once they start creeping toward 40 pitches and crossing that threshold tends to be a no-go zone. But Gausman, pitching on an extra day of rest, kept getting rope and was at 44 pitches when Wells dug in as the ninth batter that inning.
They battled for nine pitches before Wells cleared the bases with his double to make it a 6-1 game, Gausman’s 53 pitches matching Woody Williams’ total during the first inning of an 11-5 loss to Baltimore on July 14, 1998.
With Wednesday’s starter TBD — Bowden Francis pitches the opener of a three-game set at home against the Boston Red Sox, with Jose Berrios starting the finale — the desire to extend Gausman is understandable, especially given the extra day of rest and quick first two frames.
But Schneider said before the game that the Blue Jays would likely give Bassitt, not Gausman, the extra day ahead of their next outings and that may now require a rethink.
Given the lack of starting depth — among their few options, veteran lefty Eric Lauer is on turn for that Wednesday outing and the Blue Jays cleared a 40-man roster spot Sunday by transferring Ryan Burr to the 60-day injured list — ensuring the health of their remaining rotation is essential.
A series of upcoming off-days give the Blue Jays a few chances to skip the fifth spot in the weeks ahead and that would be ideal. But they also need to be wary of asking too much from a rotation that’s the foundation for the club’s success this season.
