There was some confusion when Mother Nature intervened in the finale of the four-game Blue Jays-Royals series at Kauffman Stadium and finally a decision — one that took three hours and 38 minutes to be rendered — to call it day
Heck, the first round of the NFL draft doesn’t take as long.
The end result was a five-inning 2-1 loss for the Blue Jays — the first time Toronto has lost three games in a row this season.
So, what to glean from Toronto’s 3-4 trip is as clear as the skies were grey in K.C.
The Jays can pitch, especially their starters, but their bats are a major source of concern at the moment, unless it’s Daulton Varsho or Justin Turner at the plate.
The top of the order remains stuck in mud, despite George Springer showing signs against the Royals.
It’s obvious that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. should be bumped down in the order, but whether the Jays have the stones to exercise such a move is dubious.
To top it all off, Jose Berrios, who has been among baseball’s best pitchers — an argument could be made he has been the best — began his outing Thursday with a walk.
Three batters later, the right-hander surrendered a no-doubt homer to Salvador Perez.
The Jays looked like they were rallying in the fourth when Turner’s one-out double and a Davis Schneider walk had runners at first and second. Ernie Clement singled up the middle to make it 2-1 but young Royals lefty Cole Ragans got Varsho and Alejandro Kirk on infield popups.
Confusion reigned when the umpires asked the grounds crew to pull the tarp out once Berrios had retired the side in the fifth inning by stranding a runner at third.
Jays manager John Schneider could be seen running out of the dugout and talking with the umpires, who then instructed the ground crew to take the tarp back.
A half-inning later, with the heavy rain pooling in the infield, the tarp was finally rolled out and the game officially delayed.
Technically, there’s a minimum of 30 minutes between the official delay and when the game can be called, if the umps feel so inclined.
In baseball, a game is deemed to be official once the visiting team has made 15 outs and the home team is leading, or once the home side has made 15 outs regardless of score.
Needless to say, the Jays were pining for the game to resume, but given the weather that seemed unlikely.
Against every conceivable odds and almost four hours since the game’s first pitch was thrown, the ground crew began to roll up the tarp, a sure sign the game would resume.
Or so it appeared.
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