TORONTO – Now is the time for the Toronto Blue Jays to get greedy.
By winning the first two games of their series against the Yankees, they had already assured themselves of a split in the Bronx – never an easy feat. With six consecutive wins and victories in nine of their last 10 games entering play Wednesday, they had convincingly reinserted themselves into a playoff race that very nearly left them behind.
But why stop there? In a closely contested American League playoff picture, it’s possible 90-plus wins will be required to reach the playoffs. With that in mind, the Blue Jays still have lots of work to do, all of which adds significance to the 6-3 win they managed at Yankee Stadium Wednesday night.
Thanks to a solid outing from Alek Manoah, some excellent relief pitching and offensive contributions from some of their biggest stars, the Blue Jays closed to within 1.5 games of the Yankees. Meanwhile, a Boston win over the Rays keeps the Blue Jays 2.0 games back of the Red Sox, who overtake the Yankees for the top AL wild card spot.
Yes, it’s scoreboard watching season for the 76-62 Blue Jays – and the way they’re now playing, their AL East rivals will need to keep a close watch on them, too. The Blue Jays’ win Wednesday gives them seven in a row with 24 games remaining over the next three and a half weeks.
The resurgent offence that’s fueled many of the Blue Jays’ recent wins wasn’t entirely there against 23-year-old Yankees right-hander Luis Gil, but the Blue Jays were able to do just enough damage offensively. Though they only connected for seven hits, they walked 11 times, including a 13-pitch base on balls by Hernandez in the fifth.
To the Blue Jays’ credit, they made most of their hits count. Marcus Semien drove in two with a fourth-inning single that gave the Blue Jays an early lead. But with two out and two on in the bottom of the fifth inning, Brett Gardner pulled a 3-2 pitch down the right field line for a game-tying home run, and the game was tied once again.
At times this year, the Blue Jays have had trouble adding on late runs, but that wasn’t the case this time as the Blue Jays also added some late insurance runs. Teoscar Hernandez drove Semien home with an RBI single in the seventh and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. started another rally with a tripled to right field in the eighth.
Jarrod Dyson promptly replaced Gurriel Jr. on the bases and scored moments later when another Blue Jays newcomer, Jake Lamb, hit a sacrifice fly. Then in the ninth, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. pulled an Aroldis Chapman fastball over the left field wall for his 41st home run of the season.
Despite allowing the Gardner home run, Manoah recovered to pitch 5.2 innings while allowing just three earned runs. And even though the effort didn’t end nearly as well as it began, it’s worth appreciating how far he has come since debuting at Yankee Stadium on May 27. Since then, the excitement of a big-league debut has been replaced by the focus that a playoff race demands while the results have remained impressive.
Still, on a night Manoah didn’t get through the sixth inning, the Blue Jays needed plenty of help from their bullpen especially since Tim Mayza was unavailable after pitching in consecutive games.
Trevor Richards entered with two on and two out in the sixth to strike out Gary Sanchez and he returned to record the first two outs of the seventh before turning the ball over to Adam Cimber, who struck out Anthony Rizzo to preserve the Blue Jays’ narrow lead. From there, Jordan Romano closed it out for his 16th save of the season.
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Before the game, the Blue Jays activated Julian Merryweather, who emerged early in the season as an intriguing late-inning relief option with a four-pitch mix before hitting the injured list with an oblique strain on April 13. Nearly five months later, he’s back – and while relying on Merryweather might be imprudent, his strike-throwing ability and plus pitches are at least enough to inspire hope.
Next up, Jose Berrios will start the series finale for the Blue Jays opposite Nestor Cortes Jr., a crafty left-hander who will attempt to avoid a sweep against baseball’s hottest team.
