ST. LOUIS — Somehow, the Blue Jays are the hottest team in baseball.
Despite injuries to two of their most important position players and question marks in two of their five rotation spots, they’ve won 12 of their last 14 games, including three in a row on the way to a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals.
After their latest win, a 5-2 victory on a hot afternoon at Busch Stadium, the Blue Jays are a season-best eight games above .500 with a 38-30 record. This team is playing as well as it has in at least two years, finally putting together talent and fundamentals for extended stretches while building confidence with each passing win.
“The vibes are good here, man,” said manager John Schneider. “A stretch like this is really nice. It just gives you a little bit more confidence, a little bit more belief. And it’s everyone on our team.”
In the series finale against the Cardinals, the Blue Jays chipped away offensively, using a sacrifice bunt and two sacrifice flies to even the score after St. Louis jumped out to an early lead. In the fifth inning, Ernie Clement added a solo home run on the way to the Blue Jays’ American League-leading 21st comeback win of the season.
“Every time we get punched in the mouth, we punch right back,” Clement said. “This is the most fun we’ve had as a group.”
The complete offensive effort stood out to Clement, who likes that the Blue Jays can score in different ways depending on the demands of the game.
“The small-ball aspect of the bottom of our lineup is so fun,” Clement said. “It’s lost in today’s game a little bit, but one through nine, we know our role and know what we do well.”
But the pitching staff was even more impressive in this one, as Eric Lauer, Braydon Fisher and Spencer Turnbull combined to limit the Cardinals to just two runs over seven innings. That set up a scoreless eighth from Brendon Little and the first save of Yariel Rodriguez’s career on a day closer Jeff Hoffman was unavailable due to his recent workload.
Lauer found a rhythm after the Cardinals scored early and ended up allowing two runs on four hits over 4.1 innings. The way he’s pitching, the Blue Jays can confidently turn to him for upcoming starts against the Diamondbacks and Guardians, if needed.
“Lauer was really good,” Schneider said. “He was efficient, and he can pitch, man.”
Fisher came in to help Lauer complete the fifth, which set up Turnbull’s Blue Jays debut. Pitching in a big-league game for the first time since last June 26, the right-hander pitched well, allowing just two singles over the course of two scoreless innings while striking out two on his way to the win.
Turnbull’s fastball averaged 90.8 m.p.h., a little higher than his recent triple-A results but a little lower than the 92 m.p.h. he averaged with the Phillies before a lat injury sidelined him last summer. All things considered, it was a step forward for Turnbull, who could be used as a reliever or a starter moving forward.
“I thought he was good,” Schneider said. “Strike thrower and he has pretty good feel of what he wants to do, so it was nice to get him out there, see him in our uni and we look forward to more of that.”
While winning bullpen games is no one’s idea of a sustainable long-term plan, there’s no taking away the 38 wins the Blue Jays have now banked. Entering play Wednesday, their playoff odds had climbed to 60 per cent, according to FanGraphs — and another win will only boost those further.
The recent success has contributed to a feeling of ease around the team lately.
“It makes everyone a lot looser,” Lauer said. “And it makes everyone relax a bit. It’s good to play relaxed, you don’t want to be playing tight and nervous, almost. It just breeds more and more confidence.”
In the eighth inning, Schneider and team trainer Jose Ministral visited Clement at third base after a diving attempt on a Nolan Arenado single, but Clement stayed in the game to complete the inning before Addison Barger replaced him in the ninth.
Afterwards, Clement said he has a “bruised and battered” knee but could have stayed in the game if needed.
Earlier in the day, the Blue Jays lost Nathan Lukes to the seven-day concussion injured list while selecting the contract of 27-year-old outfielder Will Robertson from triple-A, where he had hit 12 home runs with a .991 OPS. While the Loose Creek, Mo. native had plenty of friends and family in the stands Wednesday, his MLB debut will have to wait a little longer.
From here, the Blue Jays head to Philadelphia, where they’ll wrap up their three-city road trip with three against the Phillies starting Friday. That’s a real test for the Blue Jays, but lately they’ve had a lot of those, and they’ve been responding as well as any team in the sport.
“It’s a full team effort, and that’s how it should be,” Clement said.
Or, as Lauer put it: “We’re really hitting our stride.”
