TORONTO — Facing Marco Estrada must be a frustrating experience.
He’s physically unimposing, even small compared to most right-handers. He might touch 90 mph in the course of a start, or he might not. He’s a fly ball pitcher who pitches his home games at a hitters’ park.
Yet the results are undeniable: opponents simply aren’t scoring against Estrada.
The latest example of his excellence came on a night the Blue Jays needed it most. Six relievers combined to throw 108 pitches in Sunday’s extra-innings loss, creating vulnerability in the bullpen.
Before the game, manager John Gibbons acknowledged the Blue Jays were “really strapped.” Afterwards he was full of praise for Estrada.
“He was great again. Really the exact outing we had to have,” Gibbons said.
Estrada delivered eight shutout innings against the Yankees, allowing just three hits and three walks in a 4-2 win that improves the Blue Jays’ record to 27-26. While he’s typically considered a fly ball pitcher, he generated 10 outs on ground balls, six on strikeouts and four on infield pop ups, out-duelling Yankees starter Ivan Nova while lowering his ERA to 2.43.
“I’ve seen him do it many a time, so I can’t (even) say it was one of his best outings,” Gibbons said. “He does that a lot.”
It’s true. The sample size isn’t even small anymore. Estrada allowed 6.7 hits per nine innings during his breakout 2015 season, best among American League starters. His 3.13 ERA ranked fifth in the AL. This year he leads the league with just 5.7 hits per nine allowed. He ranks fifth in ERA again, too.
As a 32-year-old who’s now pitching in his ninth big league season, he’s easy to overlook. Nobody’s about to confuse him with Clayton Kershaw, Chris Sale, Jake Arrieta or Stephen Strasburg, even if they’re the only starters to allow lower opponents’ batting averages than Estrada since his 2008 debut. Still, his value isn’t lost on the Blue Jays.
“When you looked at the circumstances, we had to have that,” Gibbons said. “If we were going to win, anyways.”
Even after recalling Ryan Tepera, Toronto’s bullpen was extremely thin Monday, with Roberto Osuna, Gavin Floyd, Joe Biagini and Jesse Chavez scheduled for days off. It wasn’t pretty, but the available relievers closed the game out. After Aaron Loup allowed a two-run homer, the Blue Jays called on Drew Storen, who allowed a double before escaping trouble.
“Got the job done, baby. Name of the game,” Gibbons said. “He needs that for his confidence, because he’s going to really help us.”
Meanwhile, the offence came from an unexpected source Monday. Ryan Goins may have lost the everyday second base job, but he led the way at the plate with an opposite-field home run and a double that sparked a two-run rally. In the third inning Edwin Encarnacion drove Goins’ double home with a groundout before Michael Saunders doubled home Jose Bautista, who had walked. Two innings later, Goins homered.
“Ryan’s been struggling for a while (but) he’s a better hitter than that,” Gibbons said.
Devon Travis had the day off, even though he has hit safely in all five of the games he’s played in this year. There’s no doubt that he’s the club’s everyday second baseman, but Goins enjoyed a start at shortstop behind Estrada.
“(It’s) the same thing we’ve seen the last two years: commanding his heater and cutter, keeping guys off-balance with a good change-up and mixing in his curve,” Goins said. “He had an unbelievable game.”
The Blue Jays couldn’t have hoped for any more Monday. That said, Estrada still has something to look forward to after coming within three outs of his first career complete game.
“I’d like to finish one of these games one of these days,” he said.