Jays Sweep Yanks; AL East Race Is On

                

                The Toronto Blue Jays didn’t just sweep the New York Yankees after Sunday afternoon’s 2-0 win, they pretty much shut them down (and almost shut them out) all weekend. In 28 innings of baseball, the Yankees scored a total of one run. Let me say that again—one run in three games!

                The past week and a half has seen a complete reversal of what the Jays season had been up until that point. An eleven game win streak in June seemed to be the exception to an otherwise mediocre team that struggled to stay at the .500 mark for the entire first half.

                But after a flurry of trades, came a flurry of great baseball not seen with this franchise for more than twenty years. They took three of four from the Kansas City Royals, the team with the best record in the American League and the defending AL Champions. Then they swept the Minnesota Twins in a four-game series. The Twins were holding down the second Wild Card spot until that series, but the Jays soared past them with the sweep.

                Now, a three-game sweep of the Yankees—in the Bronx, mind you—has pretty much served notice to the American League that this Blue Jays team won’t be fading down the stretch (hopefully.)

                I know four weeks ago, during my mid-season analysis of the team, I was very critical of the team. But that was before the trades the Jays made before the deadline. It seems to have rejuvenated all the players on the team, especially the pitchers, and it appears that they are starting to believe that they can compete and win the American League East.

                Now, before I apologise for my critical analysis of a month ago, let me just say that there’s still a month and a half left in the season and anything can happen. But for the moment, let’s enjoy what we are seeing.

                David Price, in his first two starts, has lived up to the hype that came along with him from the Tigers. While pitching for Detroit, he was bombed by the Yankees in two starts this season. He put that to rest with seven shutout innings on Saturday. R. A. Dickey, who I was also critical of, has pitched better in his last couple of starts including Friday in New York, when he allowed only one run in seven innings, keeping his team in the game until Jose Bautista homered in the tenth to win the opener of this series.

                And the bullpen, with the exception of the loss to Kansas City more than a week ago, the only loss in this stretch, has been pitching very well, not blowing leads and holding teams scoreless when the game is tied or close in the later innings.

                The offence has been its usual self, getting timely hits and providing lots of power. Troy Tulowitzki’s acquisition has been very welcome and if the power guys continue to keep swinging the bats like they are, the Jays could have three players hit 40-plus home runs. Josh Donaldson already has 30, Bautista has 25 and Edwin Encarnacion has 21.

                The grand slam on Saturday afternoon by Justin Smoak shows that he can go deep every once and a while, as can Russell Martin and Chris Colabello.

                So what does this mean for the rest of the season? Well, nothing right now. As I said before, there’s a lot of baseball left to be played. But it is fun to be a fan of the Blue Jays again. A team that was eight games out of first less than two weeks ago has climbed to within a game and a half of the lead. They also hold down the first wild card spot as they passed the Los Angeles Angels in the standings after Saturday’s action.

                For a team that hasn’t had a sniff of the postseason since I was in high school, they are bringing back fond memories of the teams I rooted for as a kid.

                Let’s enjoy the ride.