TORONTO — The bullpen phone jangled one out into the Pirates’ 7-1 defeat Sunday. Euclides Rojas, the Pirates bullpen coach, retreated to the royal-blue back wall beyond the right-field fence at Rogers Centre and received instructions to get left-hander Wade LeBlanc loose. The Toronto Blue Jays had starter Chad Kuhl on the ropes in a five-run, 40-pitch first inning.
That Kuhl survived the inning was a minor miracle. That he managed to complete five innings before LeBlanc finally was waved in from the bullpen was worth applauding. But the damage already had been done, the series all but lost after the Blue Jays’ opening blow.