On the brink again, Blue Jays face much tougher task vs. Royals

TORONTO (SPORTSNET) – Three times already have the Toronto Blue Jays stared down the end of their best season in two decades, and survived. The first two times they earned another game, the last time they earned another series. And now, after just four games in the American League Championship Series, they are once again on the brink, once again left to fight for another game, left to see where that takes them.

Rallying to win three straight against the Kansas City Royals, playing with the power and responsiveness of a Ferrari, will be exponentially more difficult than it was to run off three consecutive victories over the much weaker Texas Rangers in the American League Division Series. Frankly put, the Blue Jays are simply getting outhit, outpitched, outbullpenned and outdefended by the AL Central champions, even if they coughed up a Game 2 that was in their grasp.

Tuesday’s thoroughly humiliating 14-2 loss – putting the Royals up 3-1 in the best-of-seven – once again demonstrated that. R.A. Dickey was clubbed for four runs in the first, the soft-tossing Chris Young kept a lid on baseball’s most prolific offence, and eventually the vulnerable underbelly of the Blue Jays bullpen was exposed, leading to a spirit-breaking four-run seventh, three-run eighth and two-run ninth that eradicated all thoughts of a comeback before 49,501 at Rogers Centre.

The Blue Jays got so desperate they needed utility-man Cliff Pennington to get the final out of the ninth. Some fans cheered his introduction – hey, they deserved some fun – but pitching a position player in a playoff game is a shameful moment for the franchise.

Regardless, Marco Estrada stands between the Royals and a return trip to the World Series; Edinson Volquez stands between the Blue Jays and a Game 6 at Kauffman Stadium.

That’s now the overriding dynamic in play.

Dickey – controversially pulled one out from a win in favour of David Price during a Game 4 win over the Rangers – pitched on seven days of rest and was fortunate to make it out of the first before failing to survive the second in the shortest start in Blue Jays post-season history.

The first-inning disaster went like this: Alcides Escobar bunt single; Ben Zobrist two-run homer; Lorenzo Cain walk and stolen base; Eric Hosmer single; passed ball to score Cain; Kendrys Morales groundout, advancing Hosmer to third; Mike Moustakas sacrifice fly.

In the second, Alex Rios hit a one-out solo shot before Escobar was hit by a pitch, and after a Zobrist groundout, Cain’s walk spelled the end for Dickey.

Liam Hendriks, the only real bright spot for the Blue Jays, delivered 4.1 bullpen-saving innings of one-hit ball, but the offence could only muster a Josh Donaldson RBI double and Jose Bautista run-scoring groundout in the third against Young, cutting the Royals lead to 5-2.

Young held firm until the fifth, when he was lifted with two outs after a Ben Revere single with Donaldson coming to the plate (hmmn, lifting a pitcher one out from victory despite a comfortable lead sounds familiar). Luke Hochevar induced a foul popper to end the frame and then he, Ryan Madson, Kelvin Herrera and Franklin Morales proceeded to lock things down.

The depth of quality stood in stark contrast to what followed Hendriks, as LaTroy Hawkins took over in the seventh and allowed the first three batters to reach before Ryan Tepera took over.

Escobar followed with a sacrifice fly caught on the run by Pillar at the wall in centre, Gordon scored on a wild pitch, Zobrist walked, Cain hit an RBI single and Hosmer added another sacrifice fly.

Tepera came back out for the eighth, but ended up in more trouble, surrendering another sacrifice fly to Escobar and a two-run single to Cain before manager John Gibbons was forced to bring in Mark Lowe to stop the bleeding.

Lowe had to pitch the ninth, as well, but only managed two outs and was at 29 pitches when he hit Alex Gordon. In came Pennington, who allowed a two-run single to Paulo Orlando before getting Zobrist on a foul popper caught against the Blue Jays dugout railing by Martin.

Over and over this season, the Blue Jays have found ways to pick themselves up from difficult losses and bad performances. Recovering from this mess is a whole other matter, with no second chances left.