TORONTO — Four days ago, the Blue Jays were routed by the Houston Astros 11-4 in a game that proved the nadir of Alek Manoah’s unfortunate season and cost him his job in the starting rotation, at least for now.
But the Blue Jays didn’t let the tough start sour the series. Instead, for the second night in a row, Toronto came back from an early deficit to defeat the reigning World Series champions, taking Thursday’s series finale 3-2. After getting blown out in the series opener, the Blue Jays relied on strong starting and relief pitching, tight defence and timely hitting to win the next three games against the Astros for a series victory that also secured the season series 4-3. That’s crucial since it may have playoff implications later this season (more on that below).
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“I’ll say, of course, pitching and defence has been the key,” Alejandro Kirk said through team interpreter Hector Lebron on what the Blue Jays did well the last three days. “For example, I’ll give you (Kevin) Kiermaier making that play last night at the end of the game. Our offence, it’s getting there. We’ve been hitting the ball better. So, hopefully, everything can (come) together so we can get on a roll.”
For as bad as the month of May was for the Blue Jays (11-17), the club is off to a strong 7-1 start in June. And since their dreadful 2-9 stretch against American League East teams — and since the club called a players-only meeting at Tropicana Field — the Blue Jays have gone 10-3. Their season record is 36-28.
“The season (was) really young at the time that they did get together and talk through some things and just a little bit of a heightened sense of awareness of what makes us from good to great and from scuffling to good,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “It’s been nice to watch them come together. And, when you’re going through a tough time, it’s, I think, from the outside looking in, it’s tough to be patient and to stay the course. And it’s a credit to the guys for doing just that.”
✅ 15 comeback wins
✅ 8 games over .500
✅ 18-11 at home
✅ 10-5 in one-run games
AND a series W vs the champs 😤 pic.twitter.com/cyNE3Kf0xc
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) June 9, 2023
Trailing 2-0, the Blue Jays capitalized on a rare opportunity in the fifth inning against Astros ace Framber Valdez, who entered the game with a 2.16 ERA. They used a three-run inning to get ahead of the Astros. The sequence was fuelled by RBIs from Matt Chapman, Kirk and Brandon Belt, who hit the go-ahead RBI single.
“He’s one of the best in the league,” Schneider said of Valdez. “He’s really, really good. His stuff is as advertised, can really spin it, good heater, just in control. I thought it was great that when we had a chance, we took it. It’s big at-bats from Kirky, it’s Chappy getting down the line to get the run in, taking your walks, things like that. But it’s tough. That’s like ‘put on your hard hat and go to work’ day against a guy like that, and you got to take advantage of spots when he does allow some traffic and you take what you can get really off a guy like that.”
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Blue Jays starter José Berríos worked around early trouble to pitch six innings, allowing just two runs on four hits with two walks and two strikeouts. Astros third baseman Alex Bregman hit a solo home run to lead off the second inning before the Astros loaded the bases with no one out. But Berríos limited the damage to just one more run by inducing a double-play ball from centre fielder Jake Meyers and then another ground-ball out from No. 9 hitter Martin Maldonado.
“We were just trying to make quality pitches, (and) we did it,” Berríos said of that game-saving sequence.
Though Berríos didn’t have his best swing-and-miss stuff, he was still able to generate plenty of weak contact from the aggressive-swinging Astros. This latest quality start — his seventh of the season — lowered his ERA to 3.61. He’s allowed two runs or fewer in six of his last seven outings. The frustrating up-and-down waves that Berríos rode last year appear in the distance as the right-hander has helped stabilized the Blue Jays rotation alongside Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt, as the trio combined to allow just five runs over 21 innings while striking out 20 and walking two in the three wins.
“Execution, confidence, really being convicted with a plan,” Schneider said of what Berríos is doing well this season. “His stuff has always been good. It just comes down to executing, especially (his) fastball.”
As mentioned, the Blue Jays took the season series against the Astros. That’s important because it could have significant postseason ramifications.
Barring a collapse by the first-place Tampa Bay Rays, who lead Toronto by 9 1/2 games in the division, the Blue Jays’ clearest path to the playoffs may once again be through one of the three wild-card spots. They’re just a half-game back of the third spot. The Astros, who trail the Texas Rangers by five games in the AL West, may also be vying for one of those wild-card spots down the stretch.
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Since last season, Major League Baseball no longer uses a Game 163 to break ties in the standings at the end of the regular season. Instead, the league reverts to various tiebreaker scenarios, the first of which is teams’ head-to-head results during the season. The Blue Jays will hold the all-important upper hand should they be tied with the Astros, which could impact playoff seeding, home-field advantage or even making the playoffs at all.
Sure, this was only a game in early June, but the Blue Jays aren’t a team that needs reminding of how important each and every game is considering only two seasons ago, in 2021, they missed the opportunity to make the playoffs by one win, and last year they remained in a tight fight for home-field advantage in the playoffs till the very end of the season. Schneider said the team had been focused on just getting the series win, but by doing so, they ensured they won’t have to look back on their play against the Astros with any feelings of regret.
“We’re a good team and they’re a good team, and we’re in the same league,” the Blue Jays manager said. “Weren’t really focused on the season series, just more focused on this series, but again, it’s nice to really rebound from the opening game of this one and get three in a row. They’re tough. They’re good. It was a good series.”
(Photo of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. dousing catcher Alejandro Kirk after Thursday’s win: John E. Sokolowski / USA Today)
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