TORONTO — Three games facing off against three decorated and established starting pitchers, resulting in three resounding victories. The Blue Jays can add three fat checkmarks to those boxes.
Sunday afternoon offered the latest display as the Blue Jays defeated the San Francisco Giants 8-6 at Rogers Centre to put the finishing touch on a three-game sweep. It was an impressive start to this litmus-test six-game homestand for the Blue Jays, and the type of series that continued to fortify the reputation of the club’s dogged group of hitters.
On Friday, the Blue Jays recorded six hits against future Hall-of-Famer Justin Verlander during a four-run second inning and the next day they burned right-hander Logan Webb during a four-run sixth that included two singles and three doubles.
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The runs were more spread out against left-hander Robbie Ray on Sunday, with home runs from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and George Springer along with a Bo Bichette two-run double serving as the highlights.
All in all, give Blue Jays hitters full marks for a weekend of excellent execution.
One of the Blue Jays’ main storylines this season has been the impressive contributions from one through nine in the lineup. Additionally, an interesting subplot is just how well those hitters have carried out their game plans. Over the weekend, manager John Schneider once again credited hitting coach David Popkins and assistants Hunter Mense and Lou Iannotti for crafting such strategies and getting buy-in from the players.
Popkins said that while the club has an overarching plan of attack against opposing starters, the rollout from coaches often includes individualized instruction for players.
“You have a collective plan in general of what you’re doing but that might not work for every single guy,” Popkins said, noting that some players’ swings might not be well suited for pitches up in the zone, for instance, while others might not play well on inside offerings.
“Is your best shot here trying to elevate [the ball]or is your best shot not trying to elevate and actually just keep it low and on the ground somewhere?” added Popkins. “So, everything gets individualized to the guy that day with the combination of what the plan is and also what their body needs and what their swing needs.”
Popkins declined to go into detail on any Blue Jays hitters or opposing pitchers but emphasized that a key to the lineup’s success has been players “not only believing in themselves more, but also believing in each other more. And that’s very contagious.”
That type of infectious hitting was on display in Sunday’s fifth inning, when Springer opened the bottom of the frame with a solo shot off a middle-in slider from Ray. Bichette added his second double off the lefty, chasing his former Blue Jays teammate from the game. Reliever Spencer Bivens proceeded to surrender an RBI single to Alejandro Kirk and a second-deck, two-run homer to Addison Barger that pushed the score to 7-2 and brought the crowd of 41,693 to its feet.
Right-hander Jose Berrios benefited from the run support on a day where he wasn’t exactly at his sharpest. He allowed four runs on eight hits over 5.2 innings, walking one and striking out five. July has been a rough mount for Berrios as he’s allowed 15 runs on 24 hits over 19 innings (7.11 ERA) across four starts.
The Blue Jays improved to 58-41 and up next is a date with the AL East rival New York Yankees for a pivotal three-game set, beginning Monday.
