Blue Jays' winning road trip tainted by a troublesome series sweep at the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies

National Post

21 hours ago

There aren't many times when a team comes home following a winning road trip and yet a sour taste lingers.
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It's not what have you done lately, but rather what have you done recently.
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For the Jays, their recent stay in Philadelphia could not have gone any worse, this after a series win was produced in Minneapolis followed by a sweep in St. Louis.
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Toronto's pitching was spotty and at times downright brutal, while its offence couldn't compensate for the team's mound woes when facing Philadelphia, which had lost two of three in Toronto 10 days ago.
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Add it up and it equated into an ugly three-game sweep by the Phillies, who won Sunday's series finale, 11-4, at Citizens Bank Park where the homeside outscored the visitors by a combined 22-6.
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The following are three takeaways from a horrific loss that dropped the Jays' record to 38-33 as Toronto returns home after going 5-4 on the road, a stretch that saw Ernie Clement record 13 hits, a game that would also see Clement strikeout for the first time in two weeks when former teammate Jordan Romano rang him up to end the eighth inning
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1. Wheeler and dealer
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The Jays caught a break when Philly was in town for a three-game set by avoiding Zack Wheeler, the staff ace, because the veteran right-hander had been placed on the paternity list.
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No such luck for the Blue Jays on Father's Day.
In the opening two games of the series, the Jays were vexed by two left-handers in Ranger Suarez, who held Toronto scoreless in seven innings, and Cristopher Sanchez, who gave up two runs in seven innings.
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Wheeler is in a class of his own.
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The lone inning he showed any vulnerability came in the fifth when Wheeler gave up two runs.
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He also committed a throwing error in the frame.
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Combined, Philly's three starters gave up three earned runs in 20.0 innings in the series.
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2. An atypically bad Berrios
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Speaking of quality pitching, Jose Berrios has kept the Jays in contention when he's been on the mound.
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Sunday's outing began by giving up a run on two pitches, a leadoff double followed by an RBI single.
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Four pitches later, Berrios had retired the Phillies.
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It was quite the start for Berrios, who has made quality starts his calling card.
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This wasn't one of them.