Blue Jays lose to Braves as injured Jose Reyes sits

Jose Reyes wanted to stay off the disabled list so much he played through a cracked rib in the lower left side of his rib cage.

As it turns out, the Blue Jays shortstop may have to go on the DL, and in the process, he has added to what has been a spring of freak injuries for the Jays.

“We did some tests, and it was a little sore but not like I’d come out and say I can’t play (Friday),” Reyes said as he sat out the Jays’ 8-7 loss to the Atlanta Braves at the Rogers Centre.

“Even when I was hitting, I wasn’t trying to do too much, just put the ball in play.”

The Jays stroked five homers — two each by Russell Martin and Josh Donaldson — which should have been good enough.

It wasn’t, though, as the Braves broke open a 5-5 tie with Jonny Gomes and Freddy Freeman hitting homers off Brett Cecil in a three-run eighth that stood as the game-winning runs.

Devon Travis had a leadoff homer in his first at-bat as the leadoff hitter, while Martin broke out of an 0-22 slump.

“Any time you square up a ball, it’s a good feeling,” Martin said. “I was able to capitalize on mistakes in the heart of the plate and that’s encouraging, but still it’s disappointing when you don’t win the game.”

Toronto starter Drew Hutchison failed to get out of the fifth inning for the second consecutive start, a sign of some early season troubles within the pitching staff. Toronto has now given up 14 homers — second most in the majors — and 39 walks, good for fourth highest.

Toronto also slipped a game below .500 in the process, and is in an early-season funk with losses against supposedly retooling teams.

As for Reyes, he appears headed to the DL.

Reyes, in fact, will sit for at least for the next three days. He said the plan is to rest his fractured rib until Tuesday (Jays have an off day Monday) and reassess from there.

Ultimately, if Reyes does not recover enough, he will wind up on the DL, and that will mark the third time in his three seasons with the Jays he’s been sidelined with an April injury.

But for Reyes and the Jays, there was the matter of why have the club’s top shortstop and leadoff hitter play at all this week, especially after Reyes tweaked the rib area on a check swing in Baltimore last Saturday.

Reyes was removed from Thursday’s game in obvious pain after his first at-bat. He also said Friday he is has a muscle condition in the same area as the rib, which only further complicated things for the Jays and the player.

“The doctors said it won’t get worse (rib injury),” Reyes said of his ribs, but adding there is a “scenario” where he could further aggravate the muscle soreness in the area with continued play.

Toronto will go with freshly recalled Ryan Goins and Steve Tolleson at shortstop, with hot-hitting rookie Travis batting in Reyes’ leadoff spot in the order (Goins will face right-handers and Tolleson left-handers).

Jays manager John Gibbons said Reyes did receive an MRI a couple of days ago. And with social media lighting up as to why Reyes was playing at all this week, the team said Reyes received the proper medical attention, and the decision was made to play him because “no one was that worried” about Reyes hurting himself further.

Indeed, Reyes did not further aggravate his cracked rib. It appears, for now, that the muscle soreness in the same area is an equal concern.

Gibbons also said Reyes, if he does recover enough to return to the lineup next Tuesday, could hit solely from the right side to protect the injury (Reyes is a switch hitter).

Fresh on the Jays minds are the freak injuries at this early juncture of the season, including Kevin Pillar’s oblique muscle strain from a sneeze. Michael Saunders suffered a knee injury stepping on a hidden sprinkler head in spring training, while starter Marcus Stroman tore his knee ligament during a bunt fielding drill in Dunedin.

In the meantime, Gibbons said Saunders was to miss Friday’s games with Class-A Dunedin then return as a DH beginning Saturday. Saunders will have missed five games due to a tweak in his hamstring during his initial rehab starts while recovering from his knee problem.

Gibbons said there is no plan to have Saunders rejoin the team during this current homestand, which runs through next Thursday.

Saunders could report to Triple-A Buffalo before joining the Jays, likely on the road next weekend.