Jays' Romero last four-plus innings in 13th consecutive loss
Pitching on nine days' rest didn't work. So what is next for Ricky Romero?
The Blue Jays left-hander lost his 13th consecutive decision in his past 14 starts when the Seattle Mariners beat Toronto 3-2 on Wednesday. Romero tied the club record for consecutive losing decisions, set by Tom Underwood in 1978-79.
He allowed eight hits, four walks and three runs in four-plus innings, and he did not appear to be happy when given the hook by manager John Farrell after he gave up a walk and a single to the first two batters in the fifth.
Having tried everything else, perhaps Farrell could have given Romero the chance to work out his own jam. Romero had made 87 pitches, a lot for four-plus innings, but not a lot in total.
Still, the Blue Jays say they have faith in the 27-year-old who began the season as their ace.
"You want to stay in, but I understand the situation," Romero said. "The pitch count is getting up. It was my bad -- two innings where I had two outs and I walked the next guy. So I got in trouble myself, and that (fifth) inning, I just got a little off track."
Farrell said, "You want to give Ricky an opportunity to work through some things, and yet we had seen in the previous innings multiple runners on base every inning. It felt like it was time to get him at that point."
Romero is 8-14 with a 5.87 ERA. Through his first 15 starts this year, he was 8-1 with a 4.34 ERA.
"As I stated earlier this month and in August, we're not abandoning Ricky Romero," Farrell said. "We're going to continue to work with him, we're going to continue to finish this year on a positive note, and that is our intent going forward."
