Blue Jays get spanked by visiting Philadelphia Phillies in a measuring stick game

National Post

3 days ago

Reality arrived for the Blue Jays in the most harsh and abrupt ways imaginable following a five-game winning streak triggered by Bo Bichette's pinch-hit homer in Texas.
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Everyone knew the Jays weren't as good as the team that bludgeoned the anemic Athletics in a four-game sweep.
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Everyone knew a three-game set against the visiting Philadelphia Phillies would provide a measuring stick for a Jays team that entered Tuesday's series opener sitting three games over .500, a record built primarily on the strength of winning seven straight at home.
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In terms of a litmus test, the Jays failed in falling 8-3 to the Phillies.
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If there was a bright spot to the lopsided loss, it involved the Jays' bullpen and how it kept the visitors scoreless.
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That is until Trea Turner took Erik Swanson deep on a solo blast with two outs in the eighth inning, Turner's second homer on the night and third overall by the visitors.
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The following are three takeaways on a night the Phillies blew the game open by scoring seven runs, including six in their first at-bats, through the opening two innings, a night when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. extended his MLB-best on-base streak to 33 games following a walk in the third inning.
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It's back to the drawing board for Bowden Francis, who hasn't picked up a win since his first start of the season way back on March 31 when he faced Washington Nationals.
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In his intervening starts, too many home runs have been yielded, few nights when he's pitched deep into games and an overall question when it concerns Francis' exact role and whether he should be in the major leagues at this moment.
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Based on Tuesday's outing, he should be a candidate to be sent down to the minors.
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Given the dearth of starters on the big-league team, such a move would be deemed as the ultimate sign of desperation.
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It's never a good sign when a pitcher begins his outing by issuing a four-pitch walk.
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It only got worse for Francis, who gave up six runs to the Phillies in the first.
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He never did make it out of the second inning before Francis was mercifully pulled.
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The two homers surrendered increased his season total to 19, while six of the seven runs yielded were earned as Francis endured a truly miserable outing.