When are these guys getting called up?
TORONTO - "Super frustrating."
This was Justin Slaten talking about the eighth inning of the Red Sox' 4-2 loss to the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. But it could have been anyone in that visitors' clubhouse who were left having to utter the universal explanation for out-of-nowhere losses like the last two nights: "That's baseball."
There was plenty of frustration to go around.
The impetus for Slaten's analysis was perhaps the most pivotal, with the reliever coming on in the eighth inning with a one-run lead, following up a stellar start from Tanner Houck.
After getting a pop-up off the bat of Ernie Clement to begin the frame, the weirdness started taking root. The Sox' pitching staff's bread-and-butter of getting ahead with 0-2 counts - something it has done more than any team in baseball - hit an unexpected bump in the road.
For the first time this season, Slaten allowed a baserunner after going to an 0-2 count (0-for-11, 5 strikeouts), allowing a one-out single to Nathan Lukes.
The unexpected agony continued in the next at-bat, when Bo Bichette lofted a fly ball to deep right field. But Gold Glover Wilyer Abreu turned the wrong way, allowing the ball to drop on what had been a ball with a 90 percent chance of being caught (according to Statcast).
"It was a routine fly. It was a bad read on my part. There’s not anything else I can say," said Abreu through translator Carlos Villoria Benitez.
Then, with runners on second and third, up came Vlad Guerrero Jr.
The decision was made by Alex Cora not to intentionally walk the Jays' first baseman, relying on Slaten's ability to pump high velocity past Guerrero. With the hero from the previous night on-deck, the switch-hitting Anthony Santander, neither the hitter or his manager were caught by surprise.
"It's tough," said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. "Having Tony, who is swinging the bat better behind Vlad is obviously a good thing for everybody. Vlad's one of the best hitters in the game and you've got to take your take your shot with him or Tony, you know what I mean? I think it may have been easier two weeks ago. Having Varsh right there, too, makes that decision a little bit tougher and that's how you envision it, where you have a good little one-two punch there."
"We know there was an open base," Guerrero Jr. said through translator Hector Lebron. "I know I have Santander hitting behind me. He's been swinging the bat well. So I talked to myself, I said I'm going to look for a pitch the whole at-bat. If I get it, good, I'm going to connect. If I don't get it, I'll take my walk and let Santander do the job."
He added, "Boston, they always, do it to me. Especially with runners in scoring position and emtpy bases, they always pitch to me. But I don't think about that. If they decide to pitch to me, I'll make sure I get a good at-bat. If they decide to walk, then I take my walk."
Everything seemed to be going as planned early in the at-bat to Guerrero Jr., with Slaten notching the Red Sox' sixth 0-2 count of the evening, ultimately pumping six straight pitches of 93.7 mph or better. Then came a curveball.
Vlad didn't miss.
Three-run homer. Two-run lead. The gateway to a second straight uneasy loss to the Blue Jays.
"Super frustrating," said Slaten. "It's back to back nights where I thought my stuff was as good as it has been in my life. I just didn't execute with two strikes. That's what it comes down to. You can't leave a slider in the middle of the plate to a good hitter like Bichette. He did exactly what he should have done to that pitch. And the one to Vladdy we're trying to throw a curveball below the zone in the dirt and I leave it a little bit too high. He's a really good hitter who made a really good swing. Super frustrating especially in games like that where it's super close and every pitch matters. You do a good job getting ahead you just let it get away from you later."
Then the Sox reliever elaborated on the pitch selection to Guerrero Jr., saying, "It's a situation we had thrown a ton of fastballs. Really good hitters, they don't let you beat them with the same pitch multiple times in an at-bat. We had thrown everything at the top of the zone. Narvy called it. Thought it was an absolutely amazing pitch call and I just didn't execute it. You have to get that pitch down and not in a place he can handle it. It just didn't happen."
And to add to the frustration ...
For a second straight night, the Red Sox saw a superb starting pitching performance wasted. This time the outing was courtesy Tanner Houck, whose velocity was up across the board, highlighted with a fastball that reached 97.5 mph.
The end result was a seven-inning outing in which Houck only gave up one run. As was the case with Lucas Giolito's effort the game before, it should have been enough. But also as was the case in Game 2 of the three-game set, it wasn't.
Yes, super frustrating.
"I mean, that's part of baseball, right? We have two of our best relievers on the mound, and it didn't happen," Cora said. "I’m happy with the outing by Tanner. He did an outstanding job. But we didn't finish the game."