Jays Lose to Dodgers, 4-1

But hey, at least no one seems to have been hurt.

Kevin Gausman had a solid first two rounds. He walked Shohei Ohtani to start the game, but then struck out the next six Dodgers. But they go to him in the third. Hyeseong Kim started with a double to center, then Alex Freeland laid down a sack that he actually beat to put men in the corners. An Ohtani single banked in a runner, and Will Smith’s fielder’s choice plated another, giving Los Angeles a 2-0 lead. He bounced back, coming out of that inning and dropping the team in the fourth.

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LA added in the fifth. Kim walked, then advanced to second place on what seemed to me to be a pretty questionable decision. John Schneider protested and was expelled. It was an extremely quick hook, before Schneider even seemed to raise his voice. Either home plate umpire Dan Marzel is having a bad day, or Schneider said something to get up in arms and try to spur the troops on. Regardless, that prompted Kim to come home to score on a Freeland single. Gausman was able to stop the bleeding there, getting a strikeout and a pair of flyouts.

Freddie Freeman led off the sixth with a ground out single. Gauman had Teoscar Hernandez swinging, but another grounder single by Andy Pages knocked him out of the game. Mason Fluharty got the call to face southpaw Max Muncy, grounding him then swinging Kim to preserve the three-man margin. Overall, it wasn’t a good outing for Gausman, but it proved useful. He allowed three runs in 5.1 innings, giving up five hits and two walks with five Ks.

On the other hand, a team that has been struggling for a week showed no signs of brilliance against Yoshinobu Yamamoto from the start. He struck out the side in the first, then erased a Jesus Sanchez double with a few pop outs and another K in the second. He returned to face the minimum at that point, striking out a full round from the lineup over the next three innings. Andres Gimenez broke the streak, leading off the sixth with a sweet single to right. One batter later, George Springer lined a double against the right wall to finally get the Jays on the board. A Daulton Varsho walk put the tying run on board, but a pair of groundouts prevented them from capitalizing.

Fluharty returned to start the seventh, giving up a double to Freeland, but then striking out Ohtany and striking out Kyle Tucker. That was the end of his night, as Louis Varland was called in to deal with right-hander Will Smith. He got his man, with a harmless fly to the right.

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Moto-on-Moto violence opened the bottom of the seventh, as Kazuma Okamoto won a stay-alive challenge, then knocked a Yamamoto fastball off the wall in center for a double. Ernie Clement followed with a bunting single, which knocked the Dodgers starter out of the game. Reliever Alex Vesia walked pinch hitter Davis Schneider, loading the bases. It would be another wasted opportunity, however, as a pair of soft outs and a strikeout ended the inning.

Varland returned for the eighth, retiring the side with a pair of Ks. Blake Treinen didn’t strike out anyone in the bottom half, but he didn’t give up a base runner either.

The Dodgers added an insurance run in the ninth. Jeff Hoffman got the first two batters to swing. Freeland hit a soft grounder into the second base hole. Vlad played with the ball but missed his throw into the bag to allow Freeland to reach it. Brandon Valenzuela backed him up, but attempted a sneak throw to get Freeland going first and made the throw to right, allowing the runner to advance. A Kyle Tucker single scored him before Hoffman popped to end the inning. They didn’t need any extra room, as closer Edwin Diaz sidestepped a walk to Clement and a Gimenez single to escape in the bottom of the ninth without the Jays being able to close the gap.

Jays of the day: Clement (0.10)

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Less: Gausman (-0.12), Vlad (-0.13), Valenzuela (-0.18 and an error)

Luckily we only have one more against Los Angeles and then a day off. They will have to face Shohei Ohtani (1-0, 0.00), but they themselves will be able to expel Dylan Cease (0-0, 2.79). The first pitch will take place at 3:07 p.m. ET.