ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Before we get to the Toronto Blue Jays’ long-awaited breakthrough at the plate, highlighted by a six-run fifth that was their most productive inning since a six-run sixth on April 9 at Anaheim, some easily lost details that made a difference.
In the bottom of the first, George Springer played the hop off the wall from a Luke Raley double perfectly, relaying the ball back in quickly enough to keep the speedy Randy Arozarena at third, preserving a 1-0 lead. After a Harold Ramirez walk loaded the bases, Jose Berrios worked over Taylor Walls, getting him swinging at a high fastball to escape the jam, slim lead intact.
Then, tenacious at-bats up and down the lineup, even when outs were made, like when Danny Jansen and Kevin Kiermaier saw a combined 15 pitches on back-to-back strikeouts to end the second, helping to soften up Taj Bradley for the batters to come.
Add in a smart pickoff at first base, two opportunistic stolen bases plus clean work in the field and Tuesday’s 20-1 pounding of the Tampa Bay Rays was a clinic of how the Blue Jays want to play, even before factoring in Berrios’ dominance and big offensive nights from Springer, Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., among others.
In that way, the end of a five-game losing streak before a Tropicana Field crowd of 11,906 was cathartic not only in style but substance. Amid the ongoing struggles that showed up during a 1-7 stretch against the Yankees, Orioles and Rays, the Blue Jays preached process over chasing results, trusting the work to produce results rather than trying to force the issue.
On Tuesday night, that all came together, starting with Guerrero’s RBI single in the first after base hits by Springer and Bichette to open the scoring, followed by the important escape in the bottom of the first, to the grinding at-bats that helped pave the way for Springer’s solo shot leading off the third plus a run-scoring double from Jansen and RBI single by Springer that opened up a 4-0 lead.
They took control in the fifth against reliever Zack Burdi on a two-run Daulton Varsho single, two other runs scored on passed balls, while a Kiermaier sacrifice fly and Guerrero RBI single capped off the frame.
The Rays, who burned through three relievers, then tried to preserve arms by having Raley pitch the eighth, when he allowed an RBI single, before surrendering a Guerrero grand slam and Matt Chapman two-run homer in the ninth. At that point another position player, catcher Christian Bethancourt, came on to relieve him, surrendering a two-run homer to Jansen, before the inning came to a merciful end.
For context, the Blue Jays scored 19 runs in their previous six games.
