Philadelphia Phillies' Bryce Harper (left) rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run as Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. looks on during third inning MLB interleague baseball action in Toronto on Wednesday, August 16, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
TORONTO – Kevin Gausman is looking at the bigger picture after a disappointing outing.
Gausman allowed seven runs – five earned – on seven hits as the Toronto Blue Jays fell to the Philadelphia Phillies 9-4 on Wednesday. Gausman said he struggled with his splitter all game but he’s not going to run the risk of over-correcting after the pitch has been effective all year.
“To be honest, where we’re at in the season, I’m not going to really look into this one too much,” said Gausman (9-7), who struck out four. “I look at the track record and feel pretty good where I’m at.
“I just need to get back to staying behind the ball. That was the biggest thing tonight.”
Nick Castellanos’s two-run double gave Philadelphia the lead and the Phillies (66-55) never looked back.
Jake Cave had a solo homer and a sacrifice fly, Bryce Harper homered twice, Alec Bohm had an RBI single, and Kyle Schwarber’s sac fly added a run.
“They were a World Series team last year and so if you give them that many chances they are gonna make you pay for it,” said Gausman.
He added later that he should have planned for home plate umpire Alfonso Marquez as well as Philadelphia’s lineup.
“That umpire has the smallest strike zone in all of the big leagues so you have to kind of know that going in,” he said.
Aaron Nola (10-8) struck out seven over five innings, giving up four runs on four hits and four walks. Relievers Matt Strahm, Craig Kimbrel and Gregory Soto preserved Nola’s win.
Daulton Varsho’s two-run homer in the second inning gave Toronto (67-55) a short-lived lead. Cavan Biggio added a two-run single.
Tim Mayza, Erik Swanson, Jay Jackson, Genesis Cabrera and Bowden Francis came out of Toronto’s bullpen.
Cave’s sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the second inning opened the scoring. It popped up to shallow left for a potential hit but Blue Jays outfielder Whit Merrifield caught it on a sprint, and rifled the ball to the infield to hold the runners and limit the runs to just Castellanos.
Varsho replied for the Blue Jays in the bottom of the inning. He looped a 93.2 m.p.h. four-seam fastball from Nola into the Phillies bullpen for his 15th homer. It also scored Biggio for a 2-1 Toronto lead.
Harper tied it in the third, launching an 87.3 m.p.h. splitter from Gausman 412 feet to centre field. Varsho climbed the wall as he tracked it down but the ball was well out of his reach.
“They were laying off tough pitches, I think, and made (Gausman) work,” said Toronto manager John Schneider. “It’s a veteran lineup.
“I thought his adjustments were good and made a couple bad pitches and we give them an extra out. Not really the recipe that you want.”
Biggio re-established Toronto’s lead in the bottom of the inning when his single scored Brandon Belt and George Springer. The hit brought his RBI total up to 25 and gave the Blue Jays a 4-2 advantage.
Castellanos pulled Philadelphia to within a run in the fifth when he doubled off the wall. As Merrifield played the ball, Schwarber ran home to make it 4-3.
It looked like Stott had ground out to end the inning in the next at bat but Toronto third baseman Santiago Espinal missed the target and bounced the ball past the outstretched glove of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at first. Harper and Castellanos took advantage of the throwing error to give the Phillies a 5-4 lead.
“It was kind of a weird play with Castellanos running in front of him and Stott’s busting his ass down the line,” said Schneider. “It was a little bit of a rush throw but Espinal has been one of our best defenders since he’s been here.”
Philadelphia manufactured two more runs in the sixth. Schwarber’s sacrifice fly scored Realmuto and then Bohm’s hit brought home Cave.
Cave wasn’t done, however. He led off the eighth with his third home run of the season, putting the ball over the wall for an 8-4 Phillies lead.
Harper homered for a second time in the ninth, leading the inning off with a 404-foot bomb to right field.
BICHETTE BISONS – Bo Bichette went 2 for 3 as the designated hitter for the triple-A Buffalo Bisons on Wednesday. He’ll play shortstop for the minor-league club on Thursday and, if all goes well, he’ll be activated from the Blue Jays injured list on Friday.
CAVALRY IS COMING – Relievers Trevor Richards and Chad Green are also close to returning to Toronto’s bullpen. Richards threw an inning for Buffalo on Wednesday and Green pitched 1 1/3 inning. Blue Jays manager John Schneider said that both could join the big club as soon as Friday.
ON DECK – The Blue Jays have Thursday off before travelling to Cincinnati to face the Reds in a three-game interleague series.
Philadelphia also has Thursday off to travel to Washington to take on the Nationals, its National League East rivals.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 16, 2023.
