Basepath blunders ends Toronto Blue Jays win streak at 10 games

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s $500-million extension doesn't kick in until next season, but it doesn't make the Jays slugger immune from criticism.

Guerrero entered the series finale on Wednesday one hit away from joining the Jays' 1,000-hit club, a nine-player list led by Tony Fernandez.

He's still one hit away after going 0-for-4, grounding out each time. On three occasions, he had a runner in scoring position.

But batting futility aside it happens to the best of them, it was a couple of base-running blunders that cost the Jays one run, for sure, and perhaps more.

In the third inning, Guerrero reached on a fielder's choice.

When Chicago starter Adrian Houser misfired on a pickoff attempt, Vladdy scampered to second, only to get easily tagged out trying, foolishly, it must be stated trying to get to third base on the same sequence, for the final out of the inning.

Then in the sixth, trailing 2-1 with one out, Nathan Lukes at third and Guerrero at first, Addison Barger hit a sharp grounder to the bag at first. With Vladdy off and running, Chisox first baseman Tim Elko scooped the hot shot, stepped on first and threw to second complete the inning-ending double play.

A visibly frustrated Guerrero knew that, with the force play nullified when Elko stepped on first, he should have forced a rundown, which would have allowed Lukes to score from third base and tie the game.

Good pitching, the baseball adage goes, will beat good hitting. The White Sox got just that on Wednesday.

Houser, the veteran right-hander, went seven strong innings, allowing the one run, on Tyler Heineman's RBI bunt single in the second, seven hits and two walks.

Houser, who previously faced the Jays on June 22 at the Rogers Centre, threw a combined 13.1 innings in those two starts, yielding a total of three runs.

Somehow, on a team with a 31-62 record, he is 5-2 with a tidy 1.56 ERA in nine starts.

The fact that Springer, Kirk, Clement and Schneider were not in the lineup didnt help either.