Davis Schneider sits, Jays bats snooze (again) in meek loss to Astros

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By now we should know that the Blue Jays approach to decision making is unyielding when it comes to making roster decisions, both in game and out.

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In other words, less than 24 hours after he was the hero in an unlikely Jays win in Houston — and providing a huge emotional boost to his teammates in the process — there was next to no chance that Davis Schneider was going to be in the lineup on Wednesday night.

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You could, in fact, see it coming.

The decision to sit the one guy to drive in a run for the Jays in the entire Astros series was announced by manager John Schneider prior to the latest demoralizing effort by his team.

What followed was another benign offensive display as Jays hitters sleep-walked through an 8-0 blowout loss to the Astros at Minute Maid Park, managing just one measly hit.

The series in Houston was a disaster from that perspective as the Jays scored runs in just one of the 27 innings in the series.

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They were no-hit on Monday, rescued by a Schneider miracle on Tuesday and then offered minimal resistance in the finale.

With Schneider on the bench after that emotional two-run ninth-inning homer to win it a night earlier, the Jays meekly fell to 3-4 on the season after dropping two of three to the Astros.

The defeats have been remarkably awful, all of them non-competitive, one-sided affairs in which they have been outscored by an aggregate of 31-3.

Schneider the manager opted for no Schneider the player in his lineup on Wednesday citing predictable reasons. Davis Schneider isn’t the most reliable defender (true) and the matchup worked against his strengths (also true.)

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But with a team that has been staggeringly inefficient on offence, sometimes an emotional lineup call can provide a lift, as could clearly be seen by the reaction in the Jays dugout to Schneider’s latest super man moment the previous night.

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In any event, it wasn’t likely going to matter giving the thumping administered by the Astros, led on this night by slugger Jordan Alvarez, as they finished off a series against the Jays that they probably should have swept.

It wasn’t pretty from the start as Jays starter Chris Bassitt struggled, allowing nine hits through 4.1 innings, twice leaving the bases loaded which served to keep his team in striking range.

With no offence as support, however, even a stellar starter outing wouldn’t have helped.

Schneider will get his opportunities, especially if he continues to hit and there were certainly reasons to have him idle on Wednesday. The Jays offensive problems go much deeper, after all, even if it is just seven games into the season.

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GAME ON

The Astros had a one-man wrecking crew in the form of Alvarez, who is 8-for-18 lifetime against Bassitt after going single, homer, double against him on Wednesday. For good measure, Alvarez added another homer, taking struggling lefty Tim Mayza deep in the sixth … The Astros loaded the bases twice in the first two innings — each time with two outs — but failed to get a run across both times as Bassitt induced fly ball outs … A leadoff walk in the fifth by Kevin Kiermaier set up a stolen base, the Jays first of the season … The Jays had runners at second and third in the fifth but to no avail as Vlad Guerrero Jr. went down swinging … Two other glaring stats: The Jays were outhit 15-1 on Wednesday and surrendered 10 homers in the three-game series … The damage could have been much worse on Wednesday as the Astros stranded multiple runners on the bases … Suspect vibes coming out of the Jays bullpen with the absence of closer Jordan Romano and late-innings sidekick Erik Swanson due to injury, the Jays have also seen struggles from Tim Mayza and Nate Pearson … The lone Jays hit on the night: A Daulton Varsho double in the second inning.

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SCHNEIDER MANIA

The Jays had their reasons for nailing Schneider to the bench, including the struggles he had during spring training, but his ability to change a game with one swing of the bat may some day account for something.

Of note, four how his 10 career home runs have been go-ahead blasts, including Tuesday’s game winner. His 10 round trippers are tied with Bo Bichette for the most by Jays player in the first 38 games of their career.

With the game well out of reach, Schneider did make an appearance on Wednesday, replacing Cavan Biggio at second base in the eighth inning.

COMING UP

With the road trip 70% over, the Jays move on to the Bronx for a three-gamer against the Yankees. Probable pitching matchups will see Yusei Kikuchi face the Yankees Marcus Stroman followed by Kevin Gausman against Clarke Schmidt on Saturday and Bowden Francis against Luis Gil in Sunday’s finale … The Jays will have an off-day in Manhattan on Thursday but it will be a sleepy start with a wee hours in the morning arrival in NYC following Wednesday’s game in Houston … That sets up a home opener start for opening day starter Jose Berrios on Monday at the Rogers Centre for the first of three against the Mariners.

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