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| Photo Courtesy of The Canadian Press |
The Toronto Blue Jays were able
to avoid a three-game sweep at the hands of the New York Yankees by winning the
final contest of the weekend series on Sunday afternoon at the Rogers Centre by
a score of 3-1. The victory moves the Jays within a half-game of the division
leaders from New York, and has averted a panic that was starting to be felt
(unjustly) in the city of Toronto.
As has been for the past few
weeks, it was the Jays pitching that was able to provide the necessary
performance to win as starting pitcher, Drew Hutchison, pitched 6 2/3 innings
of three-hit ball, allowing only one run to pick up the victory and improve his
record on the season to 12-2. In relief, Brett Cecil retired the only batter he
faced, Aaron Sanchez pitched a perfect eighth inning and Roberto Osuna pitched
the ninth to earn his thirteenth save of the season.
The offense, which didn’t score
as much as they usually do in the weekend set versus the Yankees, relied on a
three-run third inning, highlighted by a two-run home run by Jose Bautista, his
28th of the season.
As mentioned earlier, it avoids
a panic and brings some relief to the Jays’ fans that the Yankees weren’t able
to turn the tables after the Jays swept the three game series in the Bronx last
weekend.
But was there any reason to
panic? Absolutely not.
First of all, there was no way
Toronto was going to go on a 50-game winning streak to end the season. Really. After
the Jays’ sweep a week ago, they were a game and a half back heading into
Monday’s action. So, despite the two losses on Friday and Saturday, they’ve
actually picked up a game over the past seven days. Secondly, three weeks ago,
they were eight games out. It’s not usual to pick up that much ground in such a
short period of time, but a lengthy stretch of well-played baseball has managed
to pull it off. And finally, they still hold down the first Wild Card spot. Even
though a division title would be better, a Wild Card is still something that
gives you a shot at postseason success. Just ask the San Francisco Giants and
Kansas City Royals how their wild card berths turned out last year.
This week, the Jays get two
well-deserved days off, sandwiching a two-game set against the Phillies in
Philadelphia. Then they head out west for three against the Angels in Anaheim
over the weekend.
With seven weeks in the season
to go, there’s much that can happen. The Jays have set themselves (and their
fans) up for an exciting ride. There are going to be bumps in the road like the
two losses this weekend. But if the offense regains its stride and the pitching
continues to be more than solid like it has been since the end of July, there’s
no reason why we won’t be chatting about the Jays chasing a division title
throughout the course of these seven week.
Keep enjoying the run.
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