Adedokun Waliyu 
What is it about this Blue Jays team that makes them so averse to prosperity?
What keeps them from taking advantage of a truly horrid opponent that they rocked to a 5-0 lead on Saturday night only to throw it all away.
Yes, another winnable game against one of MLB’s true weaklings went awry out west in the thin mountain air of Denver where the Rockies handed them what had to feel like a demoralizing 8-7 loss made even worse as a desperate ninth-inning rally fell just short with the bases loaded.
While we’re well aware there is no spot in the schedule soft enough for a Jays team yet to have a serious hot streak this season, in falling to 74-62 by dropping the second of a three-game weekend series in Denver, this one was unsightly.
Where to begin on this one? Yes, there was that big early lead after two innings only to see the Rockies storm back with eight unanswered runs until adding a pair in the ninth to make things interesting late.
There was lefty Toronto starter Yusei Kikuchi struggling throughout his 4.2 innings of work, willing to give the Rockies several opportunities to get back in the game.
There was infielder Ernie Clement making a pair of errors in the field, leading directly to four unearned Colorado runs to kickstart their rally. Think this team misses injured all-star shortstop Bo Bichette?
There was reliever Yimi Garcia, normally money when coming in with runners on base, walking the first batter he faced in the fifth. You could smell the bad stuff coming at that point with the bases full, thanks to a pair of walks to end Kikuchi’s night.
So, sure enough, the Rockies’ Brenton Doyle blasted a shot off the wall in right field, a bases-clearing triple to give the hosts a 7-5 lead.
Three walks, all with two out, all making it home to turn what still should have been a comfortable lead into a deficit, pretty much sums it up.
Want more? Back in the fourth inning, before things truly turned, Vlad Guerrero Jr. meekly grounded out into an inning-ending double play. It was a golden opportunity to blow this game wide open.
Instead, the Jays opted just to blow it.
One game, yes, and as you’ll see below it didn’t cost them much in the wild-card race, but nights like this just can’t happen. Good teams don’t open up 5-0 leads on bad teams and just hand them a victory. For a Jays team looking to make up ground on the teams they are chasing, it was inexcusable.
Jays starter Yusei Kikuchi lasted just 4.2 innings on Saturday versus the Rockies.
It was one of those crazy nights for scoreboard-watching as the four principals in the AL wild-card race all had some wackiness in their respective contests.
In the first game to go final at Houston’s Minute Maid Park, there was a stroke of good news as the Yankees hung on for a 5-4 win over the Astros.
Minutes later, the Mariners, who had scored a run in the top of the ninth, hung on for an 8-7 win over the Mets. Bad news for the Toronto faithful.
And finally, the most positive development of the night was down in Texas, where the Twins scored three runs in the top of the 10th to collect a 9-7 win over the Rangers.
If hollow victories are your thing, that allowed the Jays to remain 1.5 games behind the Rangers for the third and final wild-card spot.
Even with the blunders behind him, Kikuchi wasn’t at his best. The lefty allowed six hits and six runs (two earned), but needed 100 pitches to get to that point.
His four walks — including the two lethal ones that prompted manager John Schneider to end his night — were the most Kikuchi had allowed since early May.
On the bright side, Kikuchi has pitched in the fifth inning of all 27 of his starts this season, the only Jays starter to do so.
