With the roof open for the first day of a month the Blue Jays hope will be crowded with Rogers Centre visits, there was still some important business left to accomplish.
Once the cobwebs from a delayed post-season clinching party the previous night were cleared, it was back to business for an ambitious Toronto squad looking to start something big.
To that end, they teed off on a Red Sox team exhibiting minimal interest in being anywhere, much less as a last-place team in a major league baseball stadium.
Predictably, then, the heavily favoured Jays rolled to a 10-0 victory to keep their lead on the top American League wild-card race, a cherry which would set them up for a home playoff series starting next Friday.
So, what are the priorities in the remaining five games? A gravelly voiced manager John Schneider served up a list.
“Stay healthy. Have a good rhythm. Play clean defence,” Schneider said prior to the penultimate home game of the regular season. “Things that we preach all the time. But it’s always nice when you do hit the post-season, when you’re on a roll.
“Baseball is kind of contagious that way, so hopefully we can continue to do those things.”
As manager of a team that has had wild swings in form almost from the outset, Schneider certainly appreciates the value of positive momentum.
And winning five of their past seven certainly has them trending in the right direction.
“I do (believe in the value of momentum), especially at this time of year,” Schneider said. “A lot of times it’s not if the team is playing well, it’s (the one) that’s hot right now that makes a deep run.”
The reigning World Series champion Atlanta Braves are certainly an example of that, but there have been many over the years.
The latest offensive outburst for the Jays was prolific as they destroyed the last-place Red Sox for a second consecutive contest. Not only did the Jays put up 10 on the Sox to run the aggregate of the three-game series to 19-0, they banged out 21 hits against a carousel of Boston pitchers.
It led to some nice late-season stats padding from Jays hitters. There was Teoscar Hernandez going 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles. There was Danny Jansen going 3-for-4 with a home run and a double. And then there were 4-for-4 and 3-for-4 afternoons from Bo Bichette and George Springer respectively.
Schneider said the steady and selective approach at the plate is starting to pay off.
“It’s waiting for a good pitch to hit and when they do that, talent just takes over and you can put up hits like that in a hurry,” Schneider said.
Added up, it certainly seems like a team headed in the right direction
“We’ve been streaky and we’ve had our ups and downs,” said Saturday’s starter, Ross Stripling. “But we’ve always said this team was too talented not to click and it seems like everything is happing at the right time.
“It just feels like everyone is kind of playing at their best and playing as a team and picking each other up. That’s exactly what you want heading into October baseball.”
GAME ON
Lost – though it shouldn’t be – in the offensive outburst by the Jays was six shutout innings from starter Ross Stripling, who allowed just four hits and no walks while striking out three … It was Stripling’s 24th start as he increased his career-best win total to 10 … With the win the Jays moved to 15-3 against the Sox this season and have a lopsided plus 67 run differential, the most ever recorded by one team in a season against Boston … With the game out of reach, depth infielder Otto Lopez replaced Bichette in the seventh and delivered a single, the first of his career that earned a rousing applause from the Rogers Centre faithful.
MANOAH THE MAN
Schneider is not in the business of revealing his pitching plans, but when it falls under the category of the obvious, why not?
The manager all but confirmed on Saturday that Manoah will get the ball for Game 1 of best-of-three wild-card series next Friday, as was always expected.
Ten days earlier, Schneider was asked if the Jays would consider starting Manoah in game 162 if it meant clinching the top wild-card spot. “Absolutely,” was the response, which triggered days of discussion discussing the wisdom of not saving Manoah for Game 1.
It was never really a thing, though, as the only “absolute” from Schneider was that the Jays would consider all possibilities.
“It’s great to have options and I think we would feel really good with him on the mound in Game 1 of the wild-card series,” Schneider said. The smile on his face added further meaning to the comment.
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