The Toronto Blue Jays have been stymied by the Cleveland Indians over the last two games, but the blame might not fall completely on the players.
Jose Bautista hinted the umpires have been giving Indians pitchers favorable calls so far in the American League Championship Series. The outfielder explained Sunday, per Bruce Arthur of the Toronto Star:
I’m having great at-bats. It’s just sometimes the elements and the circumstances that we have to deal with as hitters sometimes doesn’t necessarily go our way. But I’m not trying to really get into that.
All you have to do is go look at video and try to count the number of pitches they have thrown over the heart of the plate. It hasn’t been many. But they’ve been able to do that because of...the circumstances.
The Indians had some fun with Bautista's comments on their Twitter account:
Bautista cleverly avoided any specific mention of the calls, but it's clear he isn't happy with the breakdown of balls and strikes so far in a pair of losses to the Indians.
Toronto's offense has struggled immensely in the series, generating just one run in two games after scoring 27 in the first four games of the postseason. The offense is 10-for-63 through two games, good for just a .159 batting average with zero home runs.
The Blue Jays have also struck out 25 times over two games, including 10 against Indians reliever Andrew Miller.
Bautista has been one of the biggest holes in the lineup to this point, going 0-for-6 with five strikeouts.
The squad will try to bounce back with its return home to the Rogers Centre for Game 3 on Monday. Whether the team gets more favorable calls or simply hits better, something has to change for the Blue Jays to avoid falling into an 0-3 deficit.
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