Blue Jays batter Johan Oviedo early, get 14 hits to hand Pirates 6th consecutive loss

From the very first pitch, when George Springer belted Johan Oviedo’s 96 mph fastball for a single, the Toronto Blue Jays showed they arrived ready to hit.

It took the Pittsburgh Pirates five innings to answer.

The Blue Jays jumped out to a seven-run lead and pounded 14 hits to cruise to an 8-2 win Saturday night before a fireworks crowd of 34,882 at PNC Park. The second-largest home crowd of the season — and biggest in May since 2015 — saw the Pirates (20-14) suffer their sixth consecutive loss.

It was another rough outing for Pirates right-hander Oviedo (2-3), who allowed six earned runs on 10 hits and three walks in five innings. Over his past two starts, Oviedo has given up 13 earned runs in 7 1/3 innings. Over his past three starts, he has a 12.08 ERA and 8.97 WHIP.

Oviedo struggled with the execution of his slider and had to rely more upon his four-seam fastball, which the Blue Jays pounded.

“Just too many balls in the middle of the plate,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “You cannot leave balls in the middle of the plate against this club. I think they’ve shown over the last three or four years with the hitters they have, and they add Varsho into it and Kiermaier into it, that if you miss in the middle of the plate there’s going to be damage. With two strikes we missed way too much in the middle.”

The Blue Jays got a strong start from Jose Berrios (3-3), who relied on his slider and didn’t allow a runner through the first four innings. He gave up two runs on five hits and one walk and struck out seven. Berrios left to an ovation from Toronto fans with one out in the seventh.

Toronto wasted no time going after Oviedo. After Springer singled over shortstop Tucupita Marcano, Bo Bichette drew a four-pitch walk and Daulton Varsho followed with a single to center to score Springer for a 1-0 lead. Oviedo got Matt Chapman to fly out to center, then struck out Whit Merrifield before Brandon Belt roped a two-run double to right for a 3-0 lead and Alejandro Kirk drove a double to left-center to score Belt as the Blue Jays increased their lead to 4-0.

The Blue Jays got a two-out rally in the third to stretch their lead to 7-0. With Belt on second and Kirk on first, Cavan Biggio hit a high chopper that bounced past Oviedo. Pirates second baseman Rodolfo Castro scooped the ball with his glove and tried to shovel it to first, but the ball went over Connor Joe and allowed Belt to score. Kevin Kiermaier then hit a two-run double to right.

“It’s still early. We’ve only played a month,” Oviedo said. “I’m trying not to get frustrated or think too much about what’s going on right now. There are still a lot of games left. I’m trying to keep my mind straight, even if things aren’t going right for me. I’m trying to keep a good vibe so we can move it forward from where we’re at right now.”

Berrios struck out six of the first dozen batters he faced and didn’t allow anyone to reach base until Jack Suwinski drew a full-count walk with one out in the fifth. Ke’Bryan Hayes ended the no-hit bid by slicing a single to right, putting runners on first and second. Berrios recovered by getting Miguel Andujar to fly out and Castro to ground out to first to keep the Pirates scoreless.

In the sixth, Bryan Reynolds delivered a two-out double down the left-field line — his 10th double during an 11-game hit streak — and scored on Joe’s line drive to center to cut it to 7-1. Joe took second on Varsho’s throw to the plate, then advanced to third when Berrios made an errant throw on a pickoff attempt. But Berrios got Carlos Santana swinging at a slurve for a strikeout for the third out.

The Blue Jays added another run to stretch their lead to 8-1 against Cody Bolton in the seventh, when Belt scored as Kiermaier grounded into a bases-loaded double play.

Suwinski ended an 0-for-19 streak, which included 11 strikeouts, when he started the bottom of the seventh by driving a Berrios 3-1 fastball 398 feet to right for his seventh home run to cut it to 8-2. Hayes singled, but Andujar grounded into a forceout at second, then Anthony Bass relieved Berrios and struck out Castro and Austin Hedges.

The Pirates will attempt to snap out of their season-worst losing streak and avoid a sweep against the Blue Jays on Sunday. They won seven games in a row from April 17-23 but are fast approaching the nine-game skid they endured last season.

“Right now, we’re in a little bit of a funk. We just need to bounce out of it,” Shelton said. “I would say this team is better equipped to bounce out of it. I would say it’s never a good time (for a losing streak), but I do think we’re better equipped to crawl out of these than we were in the past.”