TORONTO — A pair of poorly located change-ups reminded José Berríos of his own humanity.
Nico Hoerner had a solo bomb and Cody Bellinger smashed a two-run homer in the first inning and the Chicago Cubs never looked back in a 6-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday. Both home runs came on nearly identical change-ups from Berríos.
"My off-speed pitches were so-so," said Berríos. "I mean, I'm a human, I'm not a robot. That's what I say.
"That's one of those nights out there where things don't go the way we want them to."
Seiya Suzuki had a two-run double and Mike Tauchman added an RBI single in a three-run fourth inning for Chicago (60-56). Javier Assad (2-2) allowed one run on four hits over seven innings with two strikeouts.
Berríos (9-8) gave up six runs — four earned — on nine hits, striking out three over 4 1/3 innings. Bowden Francis, Hagen Danner and Jay Jackson came on in relief.
"Two change-ups in the first inning for homers against arguably the hottest hitter in baseball in Bellinger and a good hitting team in general," said Schneider of Berríos's outing. "They're scoring a lot of runs right now.
"A couple other pitches that were in the zone with two strikes for the Suzuki double and things like that, but I thought overall, he was good."
Brandon Belt had a home run late in the game for Toronto (65-53) and Alejandro Kirk drove in a run with a single.
"We were trying, we were competing and nothing was going our way," said Berríos. "But that's baseball. That's why we love this sport and we'll just turn the page and be ready for the next one."
After getting a fly out from Tauchman, Chicago's leadoff hitter, Berríos gave up a homer to Hoerner. He took an 86.2 m.p.h. change-up 389 feet, just over the wall in left field. Ian Happ then singled before Bellinger smashed a 359-foot no-doubter to deep right field.
Bellinger's 18th home run of the season came on the first pitch he saw — also a change-up at a nearly identical 86.3 m.p.h. — for a 3-0 Chicago lead.
Berríos settled down for two scoreless innings, but then gave up three runs in the fourth.
Suzuki's double to left field scored Dansby Swanson and Jeimer Candelairo. Tauchman then singled to deep centre field to bring home Suzuki for the 6-0 lead.
A bloop single by Kirk in the bottom of the fourth scored Cavan Biggio from second to get Toronto on the board.
Belt continued to chip at the Cubs' lead in the eighth, driving the ball 406 feet and over the centre-field wall. His 11th of the season made it 6-2 and breathed some life into the Rogers Centre crowd of 41,814.
Danner made his Major League Baseball debut, coming on in relief in the ninth inning. After getting one out, however, he left the mound with left-side discomfort to be replaced by Jackson.
"Unfortunate in his debut, obviously," said Schneider. "He's been through a lot and unfortunate that his first outing ended that way."
MANOAH IN THE MINORS — Right-handed starter Alek Manoah was sent to the minors for the second time this season before Friday's game. Manoah was sent to triple-A Buffalo to continue to work on his delivery. Right-handed pitcher Hagen Danner was recalled from the Bisons in a corresponding move.
BAUTISTA HONOURED — Former Toronto slugger Jose Bautista re-signed with the team on a one-day contract. That will allow him to officially retire as a Blue Jay. His name will be added to the Level of Excellence at Rogers Centre in a pre-game ceremony on Saturday.
ON DECK — Chris Bassitt (11-6) will take the mound for Toronto in Saturday's matinee.
Justin Steele (13-3) is scheduled to pitch for the Cubs.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 11, 2023.
John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press
