Athletics right-hander Jesse Chavez performed quite well Thursday considering only an injury to Sonny Gray had him on the mound and that he was facing a sizzling offensive juggernaut in the Blue Jays on their home field.
It wasn't good enough, however. Chavez was merely added to the list of recent Toronto victims. He surrendered four runs on six hits, but did walk none and strike out nine.
He blanked the Blue Jays in every inning aside from the second, but that frame was a disaster. He let the bottom of the lineup do the damage as Kevin Pillar hit an RBI single and Ryan Goins followed with a three-run homer. Chavez retired 14 of the next 15 batters, including seven by strikeout.
Chavez has managed just two quality starts in his last 10 outings, but his ERA remains a decent 3.84.