Bautista blames 'circumstances' for Blue Jays' struggles

Jose Bautista has an idea why his Toronto Blue Jays face an uphill climb in the ALCS against the Cleveland Indians.

With his club down 2-0 in the best-of-seven, Bautista revealed Sunday that he feels his team has been getting the short end of the stick as they get ready for Game 3 in Toronto on Monday.

"I'm having great at-bats. It's just sometimes the elements and the circumstances that we have to deal with as hitters sometimes doesn’t necessarily go our way," Bautista said, according to the Toronto Star's Bruce Arthur. "But I'm not trying to really get into that. All you have to do is go look at video and try to count the number of pitches they have thrown over the heart of the plate. It hasn't been many.

"But they've been able to do that because of the circumstances."

The "circumstances," as Bautista calls them, could be a reference to the home plate umpires of Games 1 and 2, Laz Diaz and Jim Wolf. Blue Jays hitters didn't hide their displeasure with the strike zone during their at-bats.

Related: Blue Jays visibly frustrated with Diaz's strike zone

Regardless of a loose strike zone or not, Bautista is still searching for his first hit of the ALCS after six at-bats, and the Blue Jays will need him to find it if they hope to knot up the series with three games in a row at home.

He just needs the right pitch.

"I've noticed how they've been pitching me, and it's been tough, but I continue to have the same type of at-bat, because they're pitching me the same," he said. "I just haven't been able to get the pitch that I get every three at-bats that's over the plate."