ARLINGTON, Texas – If it looked like the Toronto Blue Jays were in that spot last weekend, in a three-game stretch against a much weaker opponent, trying to line up their pitching for a pivotal set against a division rival next week. – Well, that’s because they were.
Alek Manoah set them up perfectly for the 6-1 week that followed with 7.1 dominating innings in Game 1, setting the stage for both the bullpen play that beat the Pittsburgh Pirates the next day and the Kevin Gausman/Jose Berrios combo that swept Monday. Baltimore Orioles doubleheader.
The blueprint for a weekend in the heart of Texas before next week’s five-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays wasn’t much different for the Blue Jays, who bounced back after blowing a late lead to beat the Texas Rangers 4-3 on Friday. night on Danny Jansen’s RBI single in the ninth.
Raimel Tapia started the decisive rally with a walk, stole second, advanced to third on Santiago Espinal’s deep fly ball and trotted home easily on Jansen’s 68.8 mph liner on a blocked infield in front a crowd of 21,329 at the cavernous Globe Life Field.
Jordan Romano then locked things down in the ninth, securing six runs at the plate off Ross Stripling and another bright night in Bo Bichette’s September surge — a scoring play that opened the scoring in the first, a two-run homer that provided some He needed cushion in the third and a stranded one-out triple in the eighth, he didn’t miss.
Situational baseball pushed them to 77-60 and ensured they would remain at least tied for the wild-card seed, pending the outcome of Seattle’s game against Atlanta.
“That’s something we’ve been doing for the last couple of months, trying to get the small-ball effect,” Jansen said. “Take the safety hits, man on second, nobody out, move it … the little parts of baseball that are huge. That inning, with Tapia’s walk and steal and Espinal moving it, that shows you how how crucial is this little ball.”
Still, it was Stripling, doing his usual hands-on work, that kept the club’s pitching plans going for a grueling stretch of 11 games in 10 days, even after getting through the final three frames proved be heavier than expected.
“That was perfect,” pitching coach Pete Walker said. “If we had scored a couple more runs, (Stripling) probably would have stayed there (longer), but obviously our bullpen was rested. The game (Saturday) with Gaus and then a bullpen day possibly Sunday and then it will to next week. It’s kind of a game right now, a lot of games in a short amount of time. And every time a starter goes into the game, it gives us a great opportunity for the next day.”
The Blue Jays were one more reliever than expected, as Adam Cimber got two outs in the seventh, but he needed Yimi Garcia to rescue him from a runners’ jam on the corners. Garcia then left a runner on third with one out in the eighth to Tim Mayza, who gave up a game-tying RBI double to Corey Seager before getting Nathaniel Lowe and Jonah Heim to end the frame, and Romano then got the save number 32
“Whenever you can go deep into the game, line up the bullpen for the next day and the next day, so quality starts are huge, getting guys in the right spots is huge,” interim manager John Schneider said. “The Strip definitely did it tonight.”
Adam Cimber got two outs in the seventh, but needed Yimi Garcia to rescue him from a runners’ jam on the corners, while Garcia left a runner on third with one out in the eighth to Tim Mayza, who gave up a draw RBI double to Corey Seager before getting Nathaniel Lowe and Jonah Heim to end the frame.
Gausman starts Saturday and the deeper he goes, the easier it will be for the Blue Jays to pitch another bullpen game Sunday in the series finale. That would allow them to push Jose Berrios back into Monday’s opener against the Rays, with Alek Manoah slated for one of the games of the doubleheader Tuesday night. Mitch White is a candidate to return from the cab squad as the 29th man to start the other, with Stripling and Gausman handling the remainder of this series.
The Blue Jays should figure out a starter for Friday’s return engagement against the Orioles, but would have Berrios and Manoah for the weekend.
Doing so is essential, as the lineup took a hit when Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was forced onto the disabled list with a strained left hamstring. The soonest he could return is for Sunday’s finale against the Orioles, though interim manager John Schneider said he’s “not entirely sure” if Gurriel will be ready in time, adding: “I think he has chances of it being longer. But we’ll know more after the initial 10 days, how he’s responding and from there.”
The Blue Jays will get a boost Saturday when Teoscar Hernandez returns from paternity leave, and anything the offense can do to lighten the load on the pitching staff will be welcome.
Still, in the midst of a season-defining stretch, the Blue Jays will continue to need all hands on deck regardless of the opponent, whether it’s back-to-back like the Pirates and Rangers or postseason rivals like the Orioles and Rays.
“I mean, it’s fun,” Jansen said of this high-leverage run. “That’s the kind of baseball you’ve got to go through them. We’re all good in the standings, so what’s better than playing and seeing what happens, right? That’s definitely our thinking, take each game one in one. We know how important they are, but not stressing, putting too much pressure on each other. Just going out there preparing and having fun.”