ST. LOUIS — It’s been a while since the Blue Jays have put together a stretch quite this good — 2023, or maybe longer.
It’s not just the result – their 10-9 win over the Cardinals Tuesday assures the Blue Jays of a fifth consecutive series win and pushes their record to 37-30, a season-best seven games above .500.
But also consider how they got there. They had home runs from two elite defensive players, with both Andres Gimenez and Alejandro Kirk going deep. They got a tenacious starting pitching effort from Chris Bassitt, who went seven despite allowing four runs.
Better still, they did so on a night Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was getting a scheduled rest day, and Alan Roden, who was initially slated to spend the night on the bench, delivered two hits including an RBI single after neck discomfort bumped Nathan Lukes from the starting lineup.
It’s the type of team win MLB managers dream of, with contributions up and down the batting order, a strong starting pitching performance and, most important of all, a win. Lately, the Blue Jays have been putting together games like this regularly, and it’s why they’re in a playoff position despite some significant injuries.
The scoring started early, with a three-run home run for Gimenez in the first inning. The blast to right field was his fourth of the season – but his first since March, ending a stretch of 144 plate appearances without a homer.
Later, Kirk continued his hot hitting with his second home run in as many days, a two-run shot to centre that expanded the Blue Jays’ lead to 8-4. The Cardinals got two back with a Nolan Arenado home run in the eighth, but the Blue Jays countered with two more – runs they’d need when reliever Chad Green allowed two to reach in the ninth and closer Jeff Hoffman allowed a three-run home run to Willson Contreras before securing the final out.
On the season, Kirk’s now hitting .323 with an .807 OPS, numbers that would be impressive even if he didn’t rank in the 100th percentile for catcher defence, as measured by Baseball Savant. That performance had manager John Schneider pushing Kirk’s all-star candidacy, and while Cal Raleigh will surely start for the American League, Kirk’s case for a spot nevertheless looks strong.
As for Bassitt, he pitched better than his final line might suggest. All four of the runs he allowed came in the fourth inning, and three of those came when he left a cutter up in the zone against Nolan Gorman, who hammered it over the right field wall.
Yet to Bassitt’s credit, he recovered from the home run to escape the fourth and pitch three more scoreless innings. Relatively speaking, the bullpen’s load was manageable – though using Hoffman for the final out certainly wasn’t ideal.
Before Tuesday’s game, Schneider confirmed that the Blue Jays will roll with their rotation through the upcoming Phillies series, which means Bowden Francis will face the team that scored seven runs in 1.2 innings against him a couple weeks ago.
While there’s risk in letting Francis face a high-octane lineup at a time that he leads MLB in home runs allowed and owns a 6.12 ERA, the Blue Jays believe he can rebound. Plus, they prefer not to over-exert their other starters by skipping his rotation spot or going to another bullpen game. Now, Francis will have the chance to reward the Blue Jays’ faith.
In the meantime, there’s a chance for a sweep against the Cardinals, with Spencer Turnbull and Eric Lauer expected to pitch a good chunk of Wednesday’s series finale.
