The Blue Jays need Jose Bautista in the lineup. (Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports)
ST. PETERSBURG — The Toronto Blue Jays need Jose Bautista on the field as soon as they can get him. Without Bautista’s bat in the middle of the lineup, the Blue Jays were outscored 21-6 and couldn’t keep pressure on the Rays pitchers in the weekend series.
Sunday’s starter Chris Archer navigated through the Blue Jays lineup with incredible ease, giving up two hits and only allowing two runners to reach second base.
“(Bautista) is the centerpiece of this lineup,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “But one guy doesn’t do it all the time for you.”
Sure one guy doesn’t always get the clutch hit or the key at bat, but without the threat of Bautista’s power in the lineup, the Rays pitchers went right after the Blue Jays and didn’t give them many opportunities to stage a rally.
“We have to be consistent,” Blue Jays pitcher Mark Buerhle said. “When we’re scoring 10 runs a game, that’s good but we need to be more consistent all around.”
Toronto’s offense was consistent this weekend but it was consistently bad. They didn’t have more than three runs or six hits in any game. It’s clear that this offense needs Bautista to carry them to better days.
“Hopefully in the next couple days we can get him in there,” Gibbons added.
Monday against the Boston Red Sox would be nice.
