Jays’ Montoyo defends sticking with Chatwood in loss vs. Indians

Toronto Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo defended his decision to stick with reliever Tyler Chatwood during Sunday’s 6-5 loss to the Cleveland Indians in Game 2 of a doubleheader.

“We took two of three from (the Yankees), two of three from these guys, and we’re talking about one bad inning,” Montoyo said, according to Mike Wilner of The Toronto Star. “Yeah, maybe we could take (Chatwood) out, all that stuff, but he’s one of our best relievers.”

Chatwood replaced starter Steven Matz in the sixth inning of the seven-inning affair. Cleveland tied the game on a single and ground out with the runs being charged to Matz.

The Blue Jays reclaimed the lead in the top of the seventh, and Chatwood returned to the mound without anyone warming in the bullpen. After retiring Josh Naylor on a fly ball, Chatwood issued four straight walks to again tie the game before ultimately being replaced by Anthony Castro with the bases still loaded.

Jose Ramirez promptly hit a walk-off sacrifice fly to split the doubleheader after Toronto won Game 1 earlier in the day.

“You’ve got to trust somebody one time and let him get out of trouble,” Montoyo added. “But again, it was a great road trip, we did an outstanding job.”

Only seven of Chatwood’s 32 pitches were for strikes. After being charged with the game-tying and winning runs, his ERA rose from 2.37 to 3.10.

The Blue Jays didn’t play on Saturday due to the rainout and only used two relievers (Rafael Dolis and Jordan Romano) in the first half of the doubleheader.

With a day off Monday, the 27-25 Blue Jays open a two-game series against the visiting Miami Marlins on Tuesday.