Friday night was a difficult one for the Toronto Blue Jays, but it was still a special night for Jose Rodriguez.
Friday night's loss to the Texas Rangers was a backbreaker for the Toronto Blue Jays. The 7-1 loss, which featured Dylan Cease on the mound, has the Blue Jays still at two games back of the Chicago White Sox in the battle for the third and final American League wild card spot. They are also one game behind the Rangers, who are sandwiched between the two.
Add it all up, and the Blue Jays' playoff odds are down to just 15 percent with eight games to play. That's a far cry from where they were just a week ago, when it seemed like Toronto largely controlled their own destiny in the playoff race.
But though Friday night was a tough loss for the team, it was still a big night for pitcher Jose Rodriguez, who was called up to the big leagues before the game and made his major league debut.
Acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers at the trade deadline, the 25-year-old fired 1.2 scoreless innings, striking out two. A native of Mexico, he had gone 4-4 in the minor leagues prior to his call up.
There's no telling what the future may hold for Rodriguez with the Blue Jays, but there's no doubt he made a solid first impression on manager John Schneider.
A historic debut
As noted by Sportsnet Stats, Rodriguez is the 40th pitcher used by the Blue Jays this season. That's the most ever in team history for a single season.
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Jose Rodriguez (64) signs autographs for fans after making his MLB debut against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field. Raymond Carlin III-Imagn ImagesThe Blue Jays' pitching staff has been ravaged by injury this season: Bowden Francis and Jose Berrios have missed the entire campaign with Tommy John surgery, while Cody Ponce made only one start, tearing his Achilles in that outing.
Then, Max Scherzer, Trey Yesavage and Shane Bieber have spent multiple shifts on the injured list. Patrick Corbin has been there as well. Even Cease spent 15 days on the injured list for a hamstring issue earlier this season.
Up next
The two teams will play again on Saturday night with first pitch coming at 7:05 p.m. ET. Right-hander Jose Soriano will pitch for the Blue Jays while Cal Quantrill goes for Texas.
Soriano is 12-7 with a 3.56 ERA between his time with the Angels and Blue Jays. Quantrill has been a revelation this year, going 9-5 with a 2.90 ERA. A soft tosser by today's standards, he has 81 strikeouts in 108.2 innings.
