Brandon Young as Bassitt holds Blue Jays to one run in six innings

brandon young came with a clean line: Chris Bassitt held the Toronto Blue Jays to one run over six innings in Baltimore on Thursday. It still carried extra weight because he spent three seasons in Toronto and had to manage the emotions of facing former teammates.

Bassitt on Toronto

On Friday, Bassitt said he never looked at Blue Jays players or coaches during the game. He said, “The mistake, at least in the past, that I've made is that I've tried to make it buddy-buddy and friendly and have fun.”

He added, “That turns the competition metre off.” The right-hander also said, “If I look at them, My love for them will trump the competition side. I was just trying to block out all the emotions of that.”

One run, four hits

Toronto managed four hits against him. Bassitt allowed one run and worked six innings before Baltimore’s bullpen issues took over and the Orioles lost the game.

The outing matched the kind of value Toronto knew from last season, when Bassitt posted a 3.96 ERA over 170.1 innings and made 31 starts. He returned late in the year as a reliever after being injured before the playoffs, then logged 8.2 innings and allowed one run during the American League Championship Series and the World Series.

Blue Jays ties linger

Bassitt said he signed with Toronto three years ago and did not expect to build the relationships he did there. “When I signed there three years ago, I didn't expect to have the relationship I had with all those people,” he said, adding that he “didn't expect to have some of my best friends in the world on that team.”

Those ties still showed up in the reactions from the other side. Jeff Hoffman said Bassitt was “a huge reason why we were as close as we were last year and why it was such a talking point having to replace a guy like that,” while Ernie Clement said, “We definitely miss him.” Clement added, “He was one of our main guys last year. So, it's a noticeable difference without him.”

Bassitt said the Blue Jays checked in on him during the offseason before he signed a one-year, $18.5-million deal with Baltimore. He also said, “I mean, obviously, we talked and, out of respect to that front office, I'm not going to get into how anything went down or whatever.”

For Baltimore, the game offered the version of Bassitt it signed for a one-year, $18.5-million deal: innings, control and a short leash on emotion. For Toronto, it was a reminder that a rotation staple can still beat them while sounding like he never really left.