Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays flies out in the fourth inning Sunday against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Both teams wore pink for Mother’s Day.Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images
It was Mother's Day, and pink was a popular theme at Rogers Centre on Sunday.
The Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers swung pink bats in recognition of the special occasion and the teams wore uniforms with pink lettering.
Some players, such as Corey Seager of the Dodgers and Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays, even took to wearing cleats with pink accents. Other players wore pink wristbands.
But at the end of the game, with the beleaguered bullpen coming through with another egregious performance, there was a palpable sense of blue filtering out of the Blue Jays' clubhouse.
This time it was Drew Storen, a repeat offender, who wore the goat horns, after being charged with two runs off one hit in the eighth inning.
And although Storen only faced two batters, it was enough to sink Toronto's hopes as the Dodgers (16-15) rallied late for a 4-2 win over the Blue Jays (16-17) and earn a 2-1 verdict in the weekend series.
"We do need him, that's basically just a fact," Toronto manager John Gibbons said after the game when asked if he might consider moving Storen out of his role as the eighth-inning setup man for closer Roberto Osuna in an effort to help him iron out his problems.
"What hurt him today," Gibbons continued, "that leadoff walk. The same thing [as Friday], but he got out of it and ended up getting the save.
"He's had some innings, he's got through some innings and looked much better. At the end we're trying to build something, build some confidence, get something rolling."
With the way the bullpen is struggling, it feels as though the Blue Jays are trying to roll a boulder up hill.
The 'pen wasted another great outing by a starter, Marco Estrada, who did not allow a hit until the sixth inning and departed after the seventh with his team holding a 2-1 lead.
Estrada went seven strong innings and allowed just the one run off three hits. He struck out eight.
A home run he served up to Joc Pederson in the top of the seventh, which knotted the score briefly at 1-1, was his only miscue.
Kevin Pillar, who scored Toronto's first run in the third inning after he stroked a leadoff double, was once again instrumental in the Blue Jays regaining the lead in the bottom of the frame.
With Justin Smoak perched at second base, Pillar poked a single through the right side and the lumbering Smoak was signalled to hold up at third by Toronto third base coach Luis Rivera.
But when Trayce Thompson misplayed Pillar's grounder in right field, Rivera gave the full-speed-ahead sign and Smoak pushed on through, arriving safely to move Toronto ahead 2-1.
On came Storen in the eighth to try to protect the slender margin.
After Storen issued a leadoff walk to Chase Utley and then gave up a ground-rule double to Seager, he got the quick hook with Gibbons summoning Osuna.
Osuna got a strikeout of Justin Turner and, with first base open, Adrian Gonzalez was issued an intentional walk to set up the double-play possibility.
The strategy backfired when Yasmani Grandal lifted a long fly ball to deep centre that easily allowed Utley to tag up and score the tying run from third.
Seager also tagged up and went to third and he scored when Howie Kendrick singled to right to put the Dodgers in front 3-2.
The Dodgers added another run off a trio of Toronto relievers in the ninth inning.
Storen, 0-2, took the loss, which was the 10th for the Blue Jays bullpen. That leads the major leagues, against just three wins. The two earned runs attributed to Storen lifted his ERA to 9.00.
That is not the kind of number the Blue Jays were anticipating after acquiring Storen in the off-season in a trade with the Washington Nationals for outfielder Ben Revere. The Blue Jays then gave Storen an $8.3-million (U.S.) one-year contract to avoid arbitration.
Storen said he was frustrated with losing the game, but won't dwell on it. "Tomorrow, the sun comes up, get right back after it," he said.
As for any adjustments he might want to make on the mound, Storen said there is no need.
"I had a couple of pretty good outings before this," he said. "But that's the nature of this business."
The Blue Jays are back out on the road for a six-game, seven-day journey, beginning Monday night in San Francisco with the first of three games against the Giants.