TORONTO — Win-or-loss in Game 162 wouldn’t have made a difference for the Toronto Blue Jays, as it turned out, after a Houston Astros victory and a Texas Rangers defeat locked them into wild-card three and a date with the Minnesota Twins.
Kevin Gausman versus Pablo Lopez in Game 1 on Tuesday at Target Field.
Let the fun begin.
“It’s very unique to get to the post-season,” Gausman said before a just-get-through-it, 12-8 loss Sunday to the Tampa Bay Rays capped an 89-73 season for his Blue Jays. “You have to be a very good team to advance. We’ve talked from Day 1 about the talent in this room. Now we’ve got to put it together in the most important games of the year.”
A high-stakes, severe-pressure run through the final two-and-a-half weeks after a four-game sweep Sept 11-14 by the Rangers at Rogers Centre should have the Blue Jays as prepared as they can be for the grind ahead.
Their season has regularly alternated between inspiring and infuriating.
During series in which they swept major-league-leading Atlanta and the wild-card Arizona Diamondbacks, took three of four from the Astros (who pulled out an unlikely AL West crown on the final day of the season) and claimed two of three from the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Blue Jays looked top class.
Juxtaposing those gains were an 0-7 start against the Boston Red Sox (although they recovered to win the final six meetings), a 3-10 finish against the Baltimore Orioles, 6-7 marks against both the Rays and New York Yankees and of course that 1-6 run against the Rangers.
The September sweep, when Texas outscored them 35-9, represented a real tipping point.
“After that big Texas series loss, it could have went a couple of ways and we chose to fight, keep going, keep grinding it out and now we’ve got a crack at it. I’m just proud of everyone really,” said closer Jordan Romano. “George (Springer) came around to everyone, every single guy that was in here, telling him not to give up, to keep going. That meant a lot coming from him. I think the guys we got, the character of them, that definitely helped us keep the course.”
A sweep of the Red Sox immediately afterwards restored control of their own fate to the Blue Jays and they didn’t give it up.
“I just knew it wasn’t the end of the world,” Springer said of the Rangers series. “For a lot of other people, a lot of outside sources, it might have seemed like it was the end of the world, but I knew that it’s not. There was a lot of baseball to be played. I’ve been there before. I’ve been on teams that have gotten swept at the same time (of the season) and still made a deep run. So for me, it was just letting everybody know, hey, it’s OK, it’s really not the end of the world. We responded well and now here we are.”
Befitting a season that’s so often confounded, the Blue Jays dropped a 7-5 decision in 10 innings on Saturday only to clinch when the Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners later that night, manager John Schneider and several coaches watching together in the clubhouse, players apart and on their own.
Gausman spent the night hanging out with his kids virtually and was doing his visualization exercises in preparation for a potential Sunday start when his wife phoned to tell him the Rangers won. Romano watched at home, taking his dog out for a walk. Springer kept tabs on things while packing. A collective celebration came via group text, when Romano credited Matt Chapman with “firing up the boys.”
“It was interesting,” said Romano. “I’ve never really rooted in the last five years for a team other than the Blue Jays. But it was good. It was a low-stress game watching it, they took the lead early. It was like for one day in the last six months, I can get a good night of sleep, no stress. All the boys were texting, we were super happy. It was a good night.”
Especially good because it meant saving Gausman, resting several regulars and optimizing for the next season.
Once the Rangers won, Gausman dialled it down Saturday night and on Sunday he threw a light side, just to keep himself fresh for Tuesday.
“I’ve actually started the last game of the season four times in my career and one of them actually meant something and that was 2016 (with the Orioles),” he said. “We had to win to come here and play the Blue Jays in the wild card. Going into that start is definitely something that I’ll never forget. Just the intensity of knowing that I can push the button that sends us to the post-season and I ended up pitching really well that game, so that was super cool. In my mind (Saturday), I’m like it wouldn’t be the worst case to punch our ticket. But it’s obviously nicer to give our guys a break.”
And now, their wild journey continues.
“I just think this is who we are, this is what we’ve been,” said Springer. “We’ve just been a grinding team. We pitch, we play defence well and we hit. Obviously our defence and our staff has been great all year. The offence has been better than everybody thinks it has been. That’s why we’re in this position, because you still have to score runs to win. As a team, we’ve played a lot of close games, but we also play in a really, really tough division. So there’s a lot to hang your hat on, too.”
