TORONTO – The second inning of the Cubs’ 11-4 loss to the Blue Jays on Sunday served as an example of how quickly mistakes can snowball against a good offense.
It started with the Blue Jays’ Cavan Biggio hitting a sinking line drive off Cubs starter Jameson Taillon. First baseman Patrick Wisdom, who is still getting used to playing on the right side of the infield, dove to his right after the ball. But it glanced off his mitt on the hop.
“So much topspin on it,” Wisdom said. “Trying to just tackle the ball.”
The result was a leadoff single for the Blue Jays’ . Cubs starter Jameson Taillon hit the next batter and then got behind in the count to Daulton Varsho. Taillon’s fourth pitch to Varsho, a high fastball, drifted over the middle of the plate, and the left-handed hitter drove it over the right-field fence for a three-run homer.
With that swing, the Blue Jays took a 3-2 lead. A bloop base hit, walk, and a couple hard-hit RBI singles turned it into a five-run inning.
“I feel like whenever those weird things are happening behind you, it’s good to just fall back and resort to really executing at a high level,” Taillon said. “And when you don’t do that, that’s the type of thing that can really balloon. A ball finds a hole, and then you leave one over the middle with two strikes, or you fall behind guys and put yourself in a bad spot. So I feel like today it was a little bit of all that.”
Taillon went on to allow eight runs on eight hits. He left the game after three innings, ending a stretch of six straight starts of at least five innings and three or fewer runs.
“I don’t think anything really felt different per se,” he said. “But I also don’t want to just push it aside and move on. So somewhere in the middle of, go back, look at it, reassess what I felt, what happened and see if there’s anything I do need to change.”
Power in numbers
Wisdom launched a two-run home in the second inning to cut the Blue Jays’ lead to 8-4. It was his team-leading 20th home run of the season, making this his third straight season to reach the 20-home run mark.
“Helping the team is my biggest concern,” he said. “Just being able to help the team [in a] playoff push and get that in our sights. It’s awesome, and it’s why you play the game, honestly. And so to be in the mix of that, it’s fulfilling, but also it’s a lot of fun.”
Smyly in relief
Cubs lefty Drew Smyly made his first relief appearance since temporarily moving to the bullpen last week. He allowed a hit and issued a walk in a scoreless inning.
“The challenge, obviously, when you move somebody to the bullpen is trying to keep the length preserved,” Cubs senior vice president of pitching Craig Breslow said last week. “... But he’s done this before, so I don’t think we’re really treading into uncharted territory here.”
Injury updates
Cubs relievers Brad Boxberger (strained right forearm) and Nick Burdi (appendectomy) are taking steps in their build ups this week. Boxberger is scheduled to throw in an Arizona Complex League game Monday. Burdi joined Triple-A Iowa on a rehab assignment Sunday. Both have been sidelined since May and are on the 60-day IL.
