Jays open homestead looking road weary, lose to Angels

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Sometimes the hangover just gets you.

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And you could make a strong argument that is exactly what happened to the Jays Friday night.

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Coming off a 6-1 road trip, one might think the momentum and confidence alone would carry you through the night.

But a four-hour, 22-minute marathon that ended in the Jays favour on Thursday night in Boston meant a Toronto airport arrival of about 3:30 a.m. and by the time anyone’s head hit the pillow it was probably pushing 5 a.m.

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The Jays cancelled batting practice limiting their pre-game activities to some ground balls and a hitting in the cage.

Then the game started and the hangover effects started to show themselves in what would become a 12-0 rout by the visiting Angels.

There was Vladimir Guerrero Jr. coming up with a Mike Trout screamer towards first only to thow it into centre field for an error.

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Mitch White, the lone well-rested Blue Jay having travelled home ahead of the team Friday night, wound up loading the bases but got out of it unscathed when he struck out catcher Matt Thaiss.

He wasn’t so fortunte the following inning.

In the second the Angels, a team that had scored a total of 12 runs in their first seven games of the current 10-game road trip, busted the game open with five runs. In the middle of that five-run inning was a line drive off the bat of Shohei Ohtani that Teoscar Hernandez tracked to the wall and then strangely gave up on. The ball caromed off the base of the fence with Hernandez watching.

It became a two-run triple and just one more strange moment in a night of strange moments.

Guerrero had another in the same inning fielding an Andrew Velazquez bunt down the first base line with Angels on first and second. Guerrero looked to third, which was fine, but by the time he turned and threw to first Velazquez had already crossed the bag.

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Down five the Jays may as well have called it a night.

They didn’t, but some might suggest they did. Twice the Jays loaded the bases, first in the sixth and then again in the eighth leaving them full both times.

Toronto was held scoreless on the night with Angels starter Reid Detmers picking up the win on the strength of his 5 1/3 scoreless innings.

Four Angels relievers followed also holding the Jays off the scoreboard.

The Angels bats though, perhaps because they have been so quiet of late with a team average a smidgen under .200 for the trip thus far, weren’t done.

Rookie Jo Adell took Yusei Kikuchi into the second deck in right for a solo shot in the seventh while Trout went opposite field into the bullpen in right for a two run shot an inning later also against Kikuchi.

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The Angels would add two more for an even dozen matching their total output for the first seven games of this road trip in the ninth with the Jays sending infielder/outfielder Whit Merrifield in to pitch the ninth and save the bullpen any more wear and tear.

Merrifield, who didn’t break 70 on the radar gun, gave up a two-run homer to Adell to round out the scoring.

White got the Jays through five down 7-0 while taking the loss.

Kikuchi, who is looking to relocate some confidence working out of the bullpen after losing his spot in the rotation to White, came on in the sixth and gave the Jays three innings allowing those two homers but, and this is important, walking just one batter over those three innings while striking out six.

The Jays have a pair of double headers on the schedule in September thanks to rainouts and Kikuchi, as tough as his struggles of late have been, could figure into those games.

Right fielder Hernandez had to leave the game in the second inning after fouling a ball off his left foot in his only at bat.

The Jays said Hernandez left with a bruised left foot.

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