TORONTO – The Toronto Blue Jays are banking on David Price continually pitching in games of bigger and bigger magnitude, but there was never going to be any shot at the post-season if the ace left-hander didn’t ace his four starts against the New York Yankees.
Well, he did precisely that, allowing just five runs over 26.1 innings to win three of the four outings, including Monday night’s 4-2 victory at a Rogers Centre as alive as it’s been in two decades.
A sell-out crowd of 47,648 was treated to some masterpiece theatre, as Price delivered seven innings of two-hit shutout ball with seven strikeouts, retired the final 14 batters he faced, and ensured his team purged the pain from a pair of ugly weekend losses to the Boston Red Sox.
"He’s been unbelievable, really," said manager John Gibbons. "He’s 8-1 since we acquired him, that’s eight big wins, four times he’s faced these guys, the team we’re competing with right now, that’s not easy to do. What can you say really? That was the whole idea behind getting him. Trades don’t always work out right, this one has worked out right. … He’s top of the game, really."
In the process, the Blue Jays (86-64) stretched their lead atop the AL East back to 3.5 games over the Yankees (82-67) and as it turns out, Price’s starts have helped build the gap. Over those 26.1 innings, he surrendered just 22 hits and five walks with 27 strikeouts – talk about stepping up when it counts.
"It’s not just me, I’ve got eight other guys out there on the field," said Price. "We scored three in the first today, the last time I pushed against the Yankees we scored five in the first, it’s always a group effort. I want to go out there and throw the ball the way I know I can, but if the eight other guys out there on the field with me aren’t doing their part, it’s always that much more tough. Obviously I get the win with the way it went today but it’s always a team effort."
Certainly it was, as the victory was not bereft of drama, with Brett Cecil diffusing an eighth-inning jam on the verge of explosion, delivering some of his gutsiest relief work yet.
Aaron Sanchez, continuing his recent struggles in what’s becoming a growing concern, allowed a walk and single to open the frame before Gibbons quickly went to his primary lefty. Pitching for a third straight day, he allowed a roller up the middle to Jacoby Ellsbury that made it a 4-1 game before rallying to strike out Brett Gardner, Alex Rodriguez and Brian McCann to end the frame.
"If this all turns out right the way we want it to," said Gibbons, "we may look back on that inning and think that was key."
Big fist pumps came from Cecil and Russell Martin as McCann swung through a curveball for strike three, triggering one of several crowd eruptions.
"For me those were my biggest three outs," said Cecil, adding in the moment he, "blacked out for a little bit. Three tough hitters, just trying to make my pitches, trying to get ahead, get to the curveball."
Said Rodriguez: "Cecil’s been unbelievable. He has a hell of a curveball and tonight he showed it."
Roberto Osuna took over in the ninth and surrendered a two-out Greg Bird solo shot before locking down his 17th save.
The Blue Jays jumped starter Adam Warren early, as Jose Bautista’s RBI single in the first opened the scoring after a Ben Revere base hit and Josh Donaldson hit by pitch. Edwin Encarnacion followed with an RBI groundout after a wild pitch advanced runners before Justin Smoak ripped an RBI double that made it 3-0.
Warren, on a pitch count after moving to the rotation from the bullpen, was pulled with one out in the fourth and the Yankees held the Blue Jays in check until the seventh when they loaded the bases with none out, but were held to only a Martin sacrifice fly in a nice piece of relief work by Andrew Bailey.
The Yankees’ had one chance at a big inning against Price in the third, when with one out a Cliff Pennington throwing error allowed Dustin Ackley to reach and an Ellsbury single and Gardner walk followed.
Price responded by striking out Rodriguez and inducing a weak fly ball to right from McCann, and the Yankees didn’t touch him again in the type of performance a team comes to expect from its ace.
"Get outs," Price quipped of his approach to the jam in the third.
There were other highlights both scary and light for Price.
In the first, on his fourth pitch of the game, Ellsbury smoked a cutter right back to the mound and it happened to speed right into the pitcher’s glove. He let out a big smile as he exhaled, laughing a bit as he reset himself, grateful his face was still intact.
In the sixth, McCann popped up to the third base side of the infield, but with Donaldson a ways away as the Blue Jays shifted defensively, Price ended up making the catch. Once the ball was in his glove, he gave Donaldson a look, bragging about his snag.
Then in the seventh, after striking out Bird with his 114th and final pitch, he applauded to the roaring crowd on his way into the dugout.
"Me just kind of paying my gratitude towards them, I really appreciate it," Price said of the gesture. "I go out before game time and there’s probably 25,000 people already in the stands just going nuts for me, cheering for me whenever I’m just walking out to the bullpen. … I appreciate it."
And Blue Jays fans and players alike appreciate him.
Games like this are why they went out and got him, and he’s helping ensure there are even more important contests to come.