TORONTO -- Not only are the Toronto Blue Jays the runaway leader in runs scored in the majors, but they particularly bash left-handed pitching. The Jays entered Wednesday’s game against the New York Mets with a .313 batting average and .504 slugging percentage against southpaws this season.
So left-hander Jonathon Niese faced an extreme challenge.
Niese did not perform poorly, but the Mets' bats were silent in an 8-0 loss to Toronto at Rogers Centre.
The Amazin's were shut out for the sixth time this season. They dropped to 10-20 on the road.
The Mets (36-31) stranded a baserunner on second base three times in a four-inning span while the game was tight. Twice, starter Drew Hutchison wriggled free. Then, with Hutchison's pitch count at 105 after a two-out double by designated hitter Michael Cuddyer in the sixth, right-handed reliever Steve Delabar entered and coaxed an inning-ending groundout from former Jays farmhand Travis d'Arnaud.
A pair of second-inning walks undermined Niese, who ultimately allowed the game's opening run that frame on a two-out RBI single by Kevin Pillar. Toronto opened a two-run lead in the sixth on Chris Colabello's RBI single. A solo homer by Pillar in the seventh staked the Jays to a 3-0 lead.
Niese departed after seven innings.
Dilson Herrera reached third base in the eighth, but Lucas Duda flied out to end the frame.
Debutant: Akeel Morris, jumping all the way from Class A St. Lucie, made his major league debut when he took over for the eighth inning. Morris became the 12th player born in the U.S. Virgin Islands to appear in the majors. Jumping from A-ball, while rare, is not unheard of. Toronto's Miguel Castro and Roberto Osuna (discounting his Mexican League experience) both jumped from A-ball to start this season, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Morris walked the first batter two batters he faced in the majors, Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista, prompting a visit from pitching coach Dan Warthen. He then coaxed a would-be double-play grounder from Edwin Encarnacion, but the infielders could only get one out.
Things imploded for Morris and the Mets. He ultimately allowed five runs, capped by a three-run homer by Danny Valencia, and recorded only two outs.
The five runs allowed matched the most ever allowed by a Mets reliever in his major-league debut. Bob Moorhead allowed that total in three relief innings on April 11, 1962 against the St. Louis Cardinals.
What’s next: Bartolo Colon (9-4, 4.41 ERA) opposes ex-Met R.A. Dickey (2-6, 5.29) at 7:07 p.m. ET on Thursday. It will mark the first meeting between 40-plus-year-old starting pitchers in the majors since Philadelphia's Jamie Moyer met San Diego's Greg Maddux on Aug. 15, 2008.