It was an early night for Sean Nolin and Brett Lawrie.
Nolin, the
Blue Jays
’ starter who was making his major-league debut, was in the showers before the second inning was over.
Lawrie would be in the clubhouse...
It was an early night for Sean Nolin and Brett Lawrie.
Nolin, the
Blue Jays
’ starter who was making his major-league debut, was in the showers before the second inning was over.
Lawrie would be in the clubhouse himself a little over an inning later, courtesy of a questionable ejection.
They may have made early exits but the Baltimore Orioles just wouldn’t go away Friday night, pounding Nolin and his mates for four homers and 16 hits in a wacky 10-6 victory over the Jays at the Rogers Centre.
PHOTOS
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Blue Jays vs. Orioles
Nolin was clearly nervous as he headed into a debut outing that had gathered a lot of hype locally in the past 48 hours.
The six-foot-five, 235-pound lefty was a marvel in the minors the past two seasons. His call to join the Jays from Double-A New Hampshire was accompanied by the high expectations often associated with a “next one” type of pitcher.
What if the 23-year-old with the sweet delivery and quality arm could explode onto the major-league radar with a memorable performance?
It wasn’t to be. With his father Ed and mother Patricia driving in from Long Island, N.Y., to witness the big day, Nolin was gone with one out in the second, after allowing seven hits and six runs. Nolin would be given the lineup card and scoresheet to commemorate his first major-league appearance, but the reality was that it was over after 35 pitches.
The Jays were getting clobbered by that time and when Lawrie slammed his helmet to the ground and discarded his batting gloves in disgust after taking a called third strike to end the third, it touched off a controversy that would see the Jays third baseman and manager John Gibbons ejected for, really, next to nothing.
After striking out, Lawrie slammed his helmet down half- heartedly and began strolling down the third-base line, his back to home plate umpire Dan Bellino the whole time.
As he walked away, he peeled off one glove, flipped it to the ground, then peeled off the other and flipped it as well. Bellino, apparently deeming that disrespectful, ejected him as the second glove hit the turf.
Lawrie wasn’t sure what had happened; he looked to the bench, and Gibbons was on his way to confront Bellino. A few seconds into that conversation, the ump ejected the Jays manager as well.
With the crowd of 25,184 going ballistic, media types began debating the severity of Lawrie’s actions and whether they deserved an ejection. Social media followed, mostly with condemnations of Bellino’s decision.
Lawrie has certainly forged an undesirable reputation with umpires, having been ejected
for a demonstrative helmet slam in 2012
that resulted in called strikes against him long after the incident.
The question Friday night was whether Bellino was suspending the player or the reputation.
The Jays were also being questioned for their promotion of Nolin, who hadn’t lost a minor-league game since 2011 but had never pitched above Double-A. The debate over his promotion echoed the one last season surrounding highly touted pitchers Drew Hutchinson and Kyle Drabek, both of whom rose from Double-A, ended up underperforming, and ultimately suffered major elbow injuries that required Tommy John surgery.
Nolin was returned to Double-A after the game.
Down in Buffalo, the Jays have several veteran pitchers, some of whom might be considered more suitable candidates to fill the role of spot starter.
Toronto is still without Josh Johnson, who is rehabbing in Buffalo, and J.A. Happ, who placed on the 60-day disabled list Friday morning.
Chad Jenkins will start Sunday in the series finale against Baltimore, but he has not pitched in almost two weeks.
Nolin certainly deserved a reward, having gone 13-0 since 2011. But he clearly was overmatched Friday, nervously getting his fastball up in the zone. He was clobbered, giving up three r
