NEW YORK – Outbursts like this one used to be the norm, not the outlier for the Toronto Blue Jays. A pivotal two-out hit with men in scoring position. A home run to help build up some cushion. Add-on runs late in the game against an opponent’s secondary relievers to create some margin for error. You know, a team can win the American League East that way.
The Blue Jays did precisely that last year, and if they hope to defend their title, they’ll need many more nights like the one they enjoyed in Wednesday’s 8-4 thumping of the New York Yankees. A night after managing a season-low two hits, they collected 11 knocks, everyone in the lineup had at least one, and Russell Martin hit his first two homers of the season, only his second and third extra-base hits so far.
“That looks a little more typical of our lineup,” said manager John Gibbons. “It’s one game, but I feel good, those guys have to feel good and we needed it.”
Ryan Goins broke out of an 0-for-15 rut with a two-out, two-run double in the fourth that ended a 20-inning scoring drought and handed the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead they never surrendered. Then, in his 139th plate appearance, Martin went deep for the first time in 2016, a sixth inning drive that made it a 3-1 game.
“I definitely have some power so I was bound to run into a couple,” said Martin. “It definitely felt like it had been a while, it’s definitely nice to get that first one. Normally I’d rather get it in April than late May, but hopefully it’s a sign that there are more to come.”
The next frame Michael Saunders pummelled a full-count slider from Chasen Shreve over the wall in left for a two-run drive that cracked things open, making him and Martin the first pair of Canadian Blue Jays to go deep in the same game, and just second duo to ever do it in the majors (Justin Morneau and Corey Koskie did it with the Twins five times). For good measure, Martin added his second homer of the night two batters later, another two-run job that opened up a 7-1 lead and made them the first Canuck teammates to ever homer in the same inning in the majors.
What’s up, Canada.
“I’m sure it probably would have happened sooner if I didn’t miss all of last year,” said Saunders. “But seeing Russ get going, he’s starting to swing the bat a lot better of late, and to see him drive the ball, especially opposite field, is a good sign.”
That the outburst came on the day Devon Travis was activated from the disabled list and made his season debut may be nothing more than coincidence, but it was his generously scored infield single after Kevin Pillar’s two-out single in the fourth that acted as a catalyst.
Goins followed by ripping a 3-2 fastball from Ivan Nova into the right-centre field gap, scoring both runs, erasing the advantage Marco Estrada had surrendered on a Brett Gardner fielder’s choice in the third. The game could easily have slipped away at that point, as the Yankees loaded the bases with none out, but went dry right after.
“Marco did a great job of doing what he does, which is limiting damage,” said Goins. “He got himself into trouble and then he got out with only one run. To go ahead and swing the momentum back in our favour is big, and we just took it from there and added on.”
Staked to a 2-1 lead – the Blue Jays hadn’t scored since the first inning Sunday in Minnesota – Estrada worked around a pair of walks in the fourth to deliver a shutdown inning, and then held things there while the offence created some cushion.
The padding came in handy in the bottom of the seventh, when Chase Headley and Didi Gregorius went back-to-back to open the frame against Estrada, but the Blue Jays lead was still 7-3 after the homers, the game remaining firmly under control.
“It was a tough game. I guess you could say I was effectively wild, I wasn’t really me,” said Estrada, who allowed three runs on four hits and four walks with two strikeouts in seven innings. “For the most part, they basically swung when I’d make a decent pitch and I’d get guys out. I thought early on I was throwing good pitches and wasn’t really getting them called. I just got more wild as the game went on. Just a weird day.”
Playing with big leads is how it was supposed to be for this team, the offence masking any soft spots on the roster. Yet it took them nearly two months to win a game in which they surrendered four or more runs (1-21).
“When you hit a lot of balls hard like we have been, now guys are hitting them in the seats and there are no defenders in the seats,” said Goins. “Take (Justin) Smoak’s game tonight for example. He lined out twice and that’s kind of what our season has been like. It’s just a matter of us finding holes, and finally them not finding them, I think that’s been a big part, too. The teams we’ve played have found holes, honestly. We’ve just got to keep plugging, keep going and this lineup will be what it is.”
Edwin Encarnacion’s RBI single in the eighth pushed the lead to 8-3, while pinch-hitter Austin Romine greeted Chad Girodo with a pinch-hit homer in the ninth. An out later, a Gregorius single prompted Gibbons to bring in Roberto Osuna, choosing not run any unnecessary risks.
The closer promptly dispatched Aaron Hicks and Jacoby Ellsbury, sealing the kind of one-sided win that was supposed to be a regular occurrence, but has been all too rare so far.