TORONTO — Finding the perspective to remain steadfast amid rising stakes in these react-viscerally, immediately-vent-on-social times is no simple task for the Toronto Blue Jays. Baseball is a sport of constancy rolling through a hyper-charged media landscape of instant analysis, echo-chamber hot takes and passionate fan reaction that lionizes one moment, vilifies the next.
Trying to maintain the even keel required to succeed in the 162-game grind, in such an environment during the type of infuriating ebb they’ve endured over the past couple of weeks is mandatory.
“If you played for the New York Yankees, you’ve seen it in your entire career,” bullpen coach Matt Buschman said before Tim Mayza and Jordan Romano locked down a 3-0 victory Saturday over the Detroit Tigers that was just the Blue Jays’ second win in eight outings. “Look at what they went through two months ago. It was like the world was ending and we should light everything on fire. That just comes with the territory. We should be happy that we have that at the end of the day, because it means that people have expectations and we have expectations for ourselves.
“It’s like making an adjustment, knowing that those expectations are out there, and the more that we’re going to be good this year and going forward, well, this is normal. This has to be normal because when you’re a good team, it’s going to be with you. It’s a logical step that all of us need to figure out how to work.”
To that end, seven shutout innings from Hyun Jin Ryu backed by a two-run homer from Randal Grichuk in the second inning and insured by a Marcus Semien solo shot in the eighth before a crowd of 14,887 calmed a Blue Jays discourse livid after Friday’s 4-1, 10-inning loss.
While they clearly aren’t yet fully themselves, with Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., still trying to regain a groove, Mayza delivering a lockdown eighth to protect a 2-0 lead before Romano closed out the ninth against the top of the Tigers lineup was important for a bullpen under fire.
The recent blip leading to six losses in seven games that nearly slashed the Blue Jays’ playoff probabilities into single digits has been a focal point, but an offence that isn’t burying opponents and untimely mistakes on the field or on the bases also conspired to steal wins.
As the slide halted the charge up the standings that coincided with their Toronto return at the beginning of the month, the pressure has mounted on a team largely experiencing the crucible of meaningful games amid the fatigue inherent to this point of a full season for the first time.
“With a younger group, I’m more focused on the process, how everybody is working right now towards the end of the year, along with trying to win ballgames,” said Semien. “It’s twofold. We’re developing guys in the big leagues who will be superstars. We’re also trying to get in the wild card or the division. I’m just focused on the process, I’m not telling everyone, ‘Hey, we need to buckle down and win these games. We are very talented and we can win games if we play our best.’ Keep it as simple as that.”
Easier said than done and after Tyler Alexander largely stuffed them Friday, Wily Peralta kept them under wraps most of Saturday. Santiago Espinal’s two-out single in the second set up Grichuk’s 21st homer of the season, but after hitting into four double plays the night previous, they bounced into two more in this one.
They didn’t threaten again until the eighth, when Semien hit his sixth home run in close and late situations, an outlier for a team that began the day with a .623 OPS in those sports than ranked 27th in the majors.
“The pitchers are more careful in those situations. Sometimes you think, ‘Oh, they’re just going to give me what I like to hit and you don’t get that,’” Semien said of his approach to those spots. “There’s a fine line between being too patient and being aggressive in those situations. You want to try and slow the game down and get a pitch where you’re looking and if it doesn’t happen hopefully it’s a walk. It’s not a science. It’s definitely an art. The more you’re around the league, the more there’s a book on you and they know what they can and can’t do in certain situations. You also have to realize that.”
