TORONTO — In Patrick Corbin’s last start, on Saturday at Wrigley Field, his struggles were overshadowed by a late-inning Toronto Blue Jays’ comeback victory over the Chicago Cubs.
On Friday, however, the dramatics fell just short and weren’t enough to mask the left-hander’s performance.
Corbin dug an early hole and while the Blue Jays staged a late rally, they ultimately fell 5-4 in front of 41,689 at Rogers Centre. The loss extended Toronto’s losing streak to four games, and after nearly returning to the .500 mark earlier this week, the club’s record has fallen to 39-43.
Although Friday’s loss shouldn’t be pinned completely on Corbin — the Blue Jays’ offence didn’t come alive until too late — there’s no denying that the veteran’s inconsistency in June has hurt the club.
Corbin walked Wyatt Langford to open the contest against the Texas Rangers, then hit Josh Jung before Brandon Nimmo ripped an RBI double to right field. Justin Foscue and Ezequiel Duran added RBI singles to put the Rangers up 3-0, and the visitors added to that lead in the third inning, when Foscue belted a two-run homer.
In total, Corbin allowed the five runs on seven hits while lasting just 4.1 innings to continue a troubling trend. He hasn’t completed five innings since June 3 and over his five starts this month, Corbin’s surrendered 19 runs on 30 hits across 19.2 innings.
Those results have led to four Blue Jays losses and Corbin’s abbreviated outings have placed a continual tax on the bullpen. However, the problem for the Blue Jays is that there’s no clear, immediate replacement for the 36-year-old.
Right-hander Max Scherzer was set to receive a cortisone shot in his back on Friday in Texas and is likely weeks away from rejoining the rotation. And so, unless the club decides to resort to more bullpen games or turns to minor-leaguers like Chad Dallas or CJ Van Eyk, Corbin will continue to receive starts.
It’s not an ideal situation, which is among the reasons why general manager Ross Atkins identified the rotation as the team’s biggest area of need ahead of the trade deadline.
Meanwhile, Eovaldi, a 36-year-old veteran of 15 seasons, is giving the Rangers (40-42) no problems. The right-hander shut down the Blue Jays, scattering five hits over seven scoreless frames while walking one and striking out nine.
The Blue Jays were able to get to the Rangers bullpen, though, with Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s two-run, opposite-field single and Kazuma Okamoto’s two-run homer cutting the Rangers’ lead to one and igniting the crowd in the eighth inning.
It was Okamoto’s second homer in as many days, with his ninth-inning homer on Thursday also cutting the Rangers’ lead to one run. However, in both cases, Rangers closer Jacob Latz secured the victories, leaving the Blue Jays with questions to ponder.