Bieber can’t get out of first inning, walks six in Jays loss

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A tornado warning on Tuesday caused the Blue Jays’ game at Nationals Park in Washington to be pushed back by roughly one hour on an occasion dubbed Canada-U.S. Friendship Day.

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Clearly, the dark and ominous clouds continued to hover over Blue Jays starter Shane Bieber, who, simply put, had an outing no one, including the former Cy Young Award winner, will not soon forget.

Regrettable, not to mention horrible, best describes one of the most improbable starts a pitcher has experienced in recent memory.

And to the think the right-hander had strung together two very good starts to increase his market value.

With Monday’s MLB trade deadline drawing closer, a third successive quality outing by Bieber would have provided the Jays with a key bargaining chip.

All bets are now off.

Bieber was acquired at last year’s trade deadline and seemed to be on his way out of town one year later.

Tuesday night’s start has thrown everything into flux.

No Jays pitcher in franchise history has issued six bases on balls in a single inning, an infamous distinction that now belongs to Bieber.

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He was mercifully pulled after throwing 42 pitches, while recording two outs.

Following the fifth walk, pitching coach Pete Walker made a mound visit.

No words could have addressed the control issues Bieber was dealing, a stunning departure from his recent form.

He had no feel for his pitches, no sense of the strike zone, and it was a minor miracle Washington scored only four runs.

A night earlier, veteran Max Scherzer, making his first appearance since coming off the injured list, only pitched into the third inning on his 42nd birthday.

The veteran may not pitch again for the Jays as the trade rumors continue to swirl.

The way Bieber pitched Tuesday, he shouldn’t be pitching again for any big-league club.

In fairness, he does have a proven track record, but such a shocking start will have an impact on whatever the Jays can receive in a potential trade package.

Back on July 4, 2023 in a start against the Atlanta Braves, Bieber walked five, the most he had issued prior to Tuesday.

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For the record, the five walks played out across 4.2 innings.

The Nationals are a young and exciting team, but defence and pitching remain areas of concern, which is why the Jays did make the evening interesting.

Bieber’s poor start proved too difficult to overcome as the night ended with the Jays losing 8-6.

The following are three takeaways on a night the Jays’ record dropped to 49-59, a night when Gus Varland started the eighth inning for Washington after he and younger brother Louis Varland participated in a memorable lineup card exchange prior to the game; unfortunately for Gus Varland, he gave up a three-run homer to George Springer and failed to record a single out before he was pulled, though the Nationals defence did him no favours in booting a ball that should have been a tailor-made double play.

GUERRERO EXITS EARLY

Say what you want about Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and plenty has been said about his disappointing season, but he has been durable.

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In the home half of the fourth inning, he did not come out to play first base.

The club would later reveal its franchise face was dealing with right hamstring tightness.

Soft tissue injuries can be very problematic, and there’s no telling how many games he’ll miss.

There was no immediate update on Vlad Jr.’s status, though it would be very hard to see him in the lineup in Wednesday’s series rubber match, a day game no less.

Kazuma Okamoto replaced Vlad Jr. at first.

In the top of the fifth, he obliterated a fastball that went deep into centre for his 24th homer of the season, which tied him with Eric Hinske (2002) for the most dingers by a rookie in club history.

LITTLE COMES UP BIG

With Bieber unable to make it out of the first inning, it was up to Toronto’s bullpen, which was lights out in Monday’s win when six relievers were required, to help somehow salvage the night.

The first reliever summoned was Brendon Little, who emerged earlier in the season as a favourite whipping boy among fans right up there with Jeff Hoffman.

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Kudos to Little, whose stuff has never been an issue.

He recorded four strikeouts when facing his first six hitters in as dominant a stretch anyone has seen from the left-hander.

Then came a worrisome stretch when Mason Fluharty and CJ Van Eyk were each touched for a home run as the Nationals took a 7-2 lead through five innings.

V FOR VELOCITY

Brandon Valenzuela, who entered the Blue Jays’ win on Monday late in the game as a defensive replacement, on Tuesday made a very strong throw to second base to throw out Nasim Nunez.

The rookie has an Addison Barger-like arm and has even shown a power presence at the plate much like the injured Barger, whose 2026 season will amount to nine games played and one hit recorded following his season-ending elbow injury.

UP NEXT

Of the many unknowns heading into the trade deadline, the future of Trey Yesavage isn’t among them, a cornerstone pitcher who is scheduled to make his 16th start of the season Wednesday afternoon (1:05 p.m. first pitch) when the Nats counter with fellow right-hander Zack Littell; Yesavage surrendered two home runs across four innings in his last start in Boston; he recorded nine strikeouts for the second successive outing.

fzicarelli@postmedia.com

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