Guerrero Jr., Cease leave injured in Blue Jays’ loss to Pirates

Losing either, let alone both, especially alongside the club’s many other injuries, is a nightmarish thought, one that threatened to become reality in the fifth inning of Sunday’s 4-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. 

In the top half, Cease shook out his legs after a 1-1 pitch to Spencer Horwitz, stayed in the game after a mound visit by manager John Schneider and trainer Jose Ministral, threw three more pitches and then left the game. Then, in the bottom half, Guerrero took a 92.1 sinker from Mitch Keller off the inside of the right elbow, cursed out loud, and then walked directly through the dugout and down the tunnel to the clubhouse.

Not exactly the type of drama a Rogers Centre crowd of 41,354 signed up for as a season-best four-game win streak for the Blue Jays (25-28) came to an end. 

The initial diagnoses veered away from worst-case scenarios — Cease suffered mild left hamstring tightness; Guerrero a contusion after X-rays revealed no fracture — although what that means for them in the coming days is far from certain. 

Cease, who allowed solo homers to Spencer Horwitz in the first and Oneil Cruz in the second before exiting with two outs in the fifth, is next due to start Friday at the Baltimore Orioles and there’s no off-day to offer up an extra recovery in between.

Backfilling for him, if needed, won’t be easy as the Blue Jays are already extending Spencer Miles to cover one spot in the rotation, and the consistent length provided by both Cease and Kevin Gausman has been instrumental in resetting the bullpen to make it all work.

Any downtime for Guerrero, meanwhile, on a day-to-day basis means relying on the slumping Lenyn Sosa, who is in a 3-for-37 rut dating back to May 3, or juggling the infield to use Davis Schneider, who has only nine hits but 17 walks. An injured list stint would be even more difficult to cover although third baseman Charles McAdoo, who’s also had reps at first and, recently, second, would make an interesting option.