MIAMI — When Jose Berrios took the mound for the bottom of the seventh inning Saturday, the Blue Jays had a 4-0 lead and appeared to be well on their way to a clean win.
Berrios had pitched well, recovering from some recent struggles, and George Springer had just homered to give the Blue Jays a little more breathing room. But after a quick out from Berrios, the Marlins started rallying, setting in motion a wild game that finally ended when Bo Bichette drove Springer home in the 12th and Brendon Little earned his first save of the season.
Along the way, the Blue Jays used six relievers and blew three leads, but three hours and 34 minutes after first pitch they finally had reason to celebrate.
Ineffective relief outings from Louis Varland and Jeff Hoffman let the Marlins force this game into extras, and while Mason Fluharty and Tommy Nance had chances to finish the game off, Miami scored each time, offsetting Ty France’s sac fly and Andres Gimenez’s RBI single.
With the win, the Blue Jays take yet another series, improving to 76-54 on the season (including 8-4 in extra innings) and setting up a possible sweep Sunday, when Kevin Gausman will take the mound against Eury Perez in the series finale.
While Vladimir Guerrero Jr. successfully completed a full range of pre-game workouts and could be seen holding a bat in the dugout late in the game, he didn’t seem to be available as the Blue Jays are electing to bring him back carefully. Regardless, the Blue Jays’ lineup did just enough damage without him, thanks in large part to a four-hit day from Bichette and Springer’s team-leading 22nd home run of the season.
But for most of the day, the focal point was Berrios, who showed once again that he’s capable of making adjustments on the fly when he needs to. This start was especially noteworthy considering the 5.68 ERA he had posted in his previous nine starts dating back to the beginning of July. Over the course of 6.1 innings Saturday, he allowed two runs on four hits while striking out eight and walking none.
Before the game, manager John Schneider spoke about the importance of fastball velocity for Berrios, noting that more life on the fastball can make his breaking balls even harder to hit.
“If you don’t have (the fastball) on a particular day, which at this time of year, guys go through lulls with velo, you’ve got to execute at a really high level and command every quadrant of the zone,” Schneider said. “So I think that’s really important for Jose. With anyone really, you want to try to make your margin for error a little bit bigger with your secondary stuff based on where you put your fastball.”
On Saturday, Berrios ended up pitching with slightly less velocity than usual, as his sinker averaged just 91.4 m.p.h., down from his season average of 92.1. But thanks to an effective change-up and good command, he still kept Miami’s hitters off-balance.
Berrios was particularly efficient Saturday, holding the Marlins scoreless until they strung three consecutive hits together in the seventh. All told, he threw 81 pitches — a relatively light load at a time the Blue Jays are especially mindful of their starters’ rest.
“Where we are with the whole rotation, it’s going to be a little bit flexible with a lot of guys,” Schneider said. “With the (upcoming) off days, guys are going to get extra rest. We’re going to do a little bit of mixing and matching. I think there is a way to kind of get not only (Berrios), but other guys some extra rest going into September and hopefully beyond.”
After Berrios exited, Varland allowed an inherited runner to score before allowing another run that was charged to his line, marking four straight appearances in which he has allowed a run. Seranthony Dominguez came through with a scoreless eighth before Hoffman walked the leadoff man in the ninth, setting up the Marlins’ fourth run of the day.
While Eric Lauer is technically available out of the bullpen this weekend, the Blue Jays plan to re-insert the left-hander into their starting rotation against the Twins next week. That move will give Shane Bieber a little extra rest before his Blue Jays home debut, a buffer that’s “kind of important” to the Blue Jays, according to Schneider.
As a result, the rotation lines up like this for the week ahead:
Sunday at Marlins: Kevin Gausman
Monday vs. Twins: Max Scherzer
Tuesday vs. Twins: Chris Bassitt
Wednesday vs. Twins: Eric Lauer
Thursday: off day
Friday vs. Brewers: Shane Bieber
It’s a strong group featuring multiple Cy Young Award winners and enviable depth. And after Saturday’s bounce-back performance, there’s some more reason for optimism with Berrios, too.
