Kevin Gausman must be feeling a bit lonely these days. The Toronto Blue Jays right-hander is the only starting pitcher on the staff to make every scheduled start this season. A rotation that began with Gausman, Dylan Cease, Cody Ponce, Max Scherzer and Eric Lauer didn't stay intact for even a second time through, and it has been changing ever since.
Gausman made his 13th start of the season on Tuesday in Atlanta, and as usual gave the Jays a chance. However, as has happened too often this summer, the run support from his teammates was limited and ultimately not enough in a 4-3 loss in the series opener.
Early Walks Prove Costly
Gausman had a small issue with walks, issuing two, but the one that hurt him was a leadoff walk to Ronald Acuna Jr. to start the Braves' night. That started a two-run Braves first inning and set the tone for the rest of the evening. Acuna Jr. scored on a Michael Harris double, and Harris eventually came around to score on an Ozzie Albies sacrifice fly.
The Jays were playing catchup the rest of the night and tied the game at two on Kazuma Okamoto's two-run homer. Atlanta took the lead back in the third inning as Albies drove home Matt Olson, who had doubled.
Jays Rally But Fall Short
The Jays got back to even in the sixth inning on a Daulton Varsho sacrifice fly that scored Nathan Lukes. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was on second base, but neither Ernie Clement nor Yohendrick Pinango were able to bring him home. In the bottom of the sixth, Olson greeted Gausman with a wind-aided solo home run to right, re-establishing an Atlanta lead for good.
Gausman gave up all four runs the Braves scored and fell to 4-4 for the season. He struck out eight but will be unhappy with those two walks, particularly the leadoff walk that came around to score, putting the Jays in chase mode for the remainder of the night.
Braves Pitching Stifles Jays
Atlanta starting pitcher Bryce Elder didn't overpower any of the Jays hitters but kept them guessing for much of the 6 2/3 innings he was in the game. Elder's off-speed stuff was good enough to keep the Jays unsure most of the night, and he improved to 5-3.
The Jays will take another run at the winningest team in the major leagues on Wednesday. Patrick Corbin takes on Grant Holmes in a 7:15 p.m. start.
