Mookie Betts #50 of the Boston Red Sox looks on from second during the third inning at Fenway Park on September 9, 2015 in Boston, Massachusetts.Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
It is a point of immense pride with Mark Buehrle, his persona of Mr. Durability.
The 36-year-old is the Volkswagen Beetle of major-league pitchers; not too flashy or powerful, just a dependable workhorse whose engine keeps on turning over.
Now, as the Blue Jays are embarking on the biggest series of their upstart season on baseball's grandest stage of Yankee Stadium, Buehrle is being forced to take a back seat.
And it is killing him.
"It's frustrating," Buehrle conceded at Fenway Park before Toronto wrapped up its three-game set against the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night. "I feel like I've always been, I guess, the guy that's been counted on to go out there every five days.
"Now I'm getting skipped for some other guys. So it's a kick in the stomach a little bit, just realizing … age and innings [are] maybe starting to catch up."
The Blue Jays travel to New York to battle the Yankees on a low note after getting shellacked 10-4 by the Red Sox in a laborious affair. The only upside was that the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Yankees 5-3, maintaining Toronto's hold on first place in the American League East over New York at 11/2 games.
Drew Hutchison got the start and he continued his pattern of infuriatingly poor outings on the road, failing to pitch out of the fourth inning. Hutchison was tagged for six runs and six hits – two of them homers from Mookie Betts and David Ortiz in the four-run Red Sox third.
Hutchison's record fell to 13-4 and 2-2 on the road, where his earned-run average is an alarming 9.32.
Buehrle's chassis is finally starting to show some rust and the timing could not be worse, with a four-game showdown against the Yankees with first place squarely on the line.
"I expect it to be very intense and a crazy place, like New York normally is," Toronto manager John Gibbons said. "I'm excited about it, I know our guys are excited about it.
"We haven't been in one of these things in, well, nobody out here has experienced it with this team."
Lefty ace David Price will be on the mound Thursday night for Toronto, followed on Friday by Marco Estrada, whose surprisingly solid season keeps rolling.
Saturday's game was supposed to go to Buehrle, 14-7, with a 3.72 ERA, but that plan has been shelved.
Instead, the start will go to Marcus Stroman, Buehrle's young protégé, in his first appearance of the year following a lightning-fast recovery from knee surgery in March.
Buehrle has been inconsistent of late. Following a dismal 31/3-inning performance on Monday, he was sent back to Toronto to receive a cortisone injection to help battle inflammation in his left shoulder.
As a result, his Saturday start has been bumped to Tuesday in Atlanta against the Braves.
The cortisone shot is nothing new for Buehrle, or most other members of the Blue Jays for that matter. He's had at least one earlier in the season, but Buehrle did not want to share any of those medical secrets.
He was asked why he felt it necessary to receive another one now at this important juncture of the season.
"Take your car in, get an oil change, get the bearings lubed up – the same thing," he responded. "Just to try to get strong for the final couple of weeks and hopefully the playoffs."
Having to miss an assignment is not something Buehrle is used to.
He has avoided a stint on the disabled list throughout his 16-year career, which for a starting pitcher is downright miraculous. It is a streak that borders on ridiculous when you consider he has hurled at least 200-plus innings for 14 years in a row.
It is a run that Buehrle is proud of and one he hopes to be able to extend. He is currently perched at 1741/3.
The only thing more annoying to Buehrle than his health concerns are suggestions that he is feuding with Stroman, upset that the young buck is pushing him aside.
The two are close – Stroman even calls Buehrle "Pops" – and Buehrle said he could not be happier at the progress Stroman has displayed this season in battling back from a serious injury.
"I keep on hearing me and Stroman's fighting, I'm pissed at him," Buehrle said. "That's news to me. We were texting back and forth about me going back home and getting a shot and communicating back and forth. So there's nothing there.
"I don't know who started this rumour, but somebody said it. I don't know. I heard it from people in here. That's a joke."