NEW YORK – The way the Toronto Blue Jays won the American League East last year is unique. Things seemed impossibly easy for them during a 43-18 finish to the season, when they erased an eight-game deficit in the standings over a couple of weeks, and took the lead for good Aug. 23. Once ahead, their edge never got smaller than a half-game, and that for only a single day, en route to a division title.
The path to the post-season this year, should the Blue Jays get there, is going to be far more anxious. They head into Friday’s important three-game series against the Boston Red Sox having fallen a game behind John Farrell’s bunch for the AL East lead. A 1-5 end to a nine-game road trip that started promisingly with two wins in Baltimore spread worry among portions of the uneasy faithful.
Few are inclined to do as closer Roberto Osuna’s warm-up song by French Montana suggests and, “Don’t Panic.” Yet with 23 games remaining, the Blue Jays remain very much in control of their own destiny, possessing the top wild card spot, although the walls are closing in there, too, with the Orioles just one game back, and the Detroit Tigers two off the pace.
Those whose view of September baseball was distorted by 2015’s relatively turbulent-free landing must remember that this a month for steadfastness and a level head amid the bumps, violent as they may be.
“Every year is different. Last year we caught fire and it was like a light switch, it wasn’t gradual, it was like bam. This year it’s been kind of like this,” says manager John Gibbons, slowly raising his hand incrementally. “We’ve really played as steady of ball as you can play. No big streaks like we had last year, even early on, before the team came together. This year we haven’t had any real dips, either. In a lot of ways that’s probably better, it’s been more consistent. But we were able to open it up pretty quick last year, too, that’s not going to happen this year at this point. Just keep playing good baseball. In the end, if you’re good enough you’ll be there, if you’re not you won’t. The best teams get there.”
The three-game sweep the Blue Jays suffered in the Bronx at the hands of the New York Yankees, who are suddenly on the fringes of this race, too, marked the first time they’d lost three games in a row since June 18-21. They hadn’t been swept since the Tampa Bay Rays outscored them 31-7 in Toronto from May 16-18, so the timing of their current cold spell is not exactly optimal, especially with the Red Sox series looming.
No one likes limping into big games. Does it matter?
“I can’t really say anything,” replies Russell Martin. “Just play good baseball, man. It’s really simple. Go out there, score more runs than the other team, make the plays you need to make, make good pitches, have good at-bats. We know it’s going to be tough because it’s a good team coming in and it’s not going to be easy, but we already know that. Just take it one pitch at a time, and hopefully we’re doing the right things and we get some W’s.”
The Blue Jays enter the series 7-6 versus the Red Sox so far this year, with a cumulative score of 62-all. They’re 3-3 at Rogers Centre, 4-3 at Fenway. The visitors are arriving to finish a nine-game road trip after a 4-2 stretch through Oakland and San Diego.
“We’re ready, we know what we have to accomplish, we know what we have to do this next month and we’re up for the task,” says Marcus Stroman. “Every single guy in this clubhouse is committed and motivated. We’re excited to have this off-day, kind of regroup and get back out there Friday.”
The teams clash again in the final series of the regular season Sept. 30-Oct. 2 in Boston. The Blue Jays play four games against the Yankees and three versus the Orioles just before that so a lot of drama looms, and given how tightly bunched the standings are, the squeamish best be ready.
“One thing about these guys, they’ve always been resilient,” says Gibbons. “Last year we hit some tough spots, they always bounced back, tough losses don’t really seem to affect us. Really, it’s basically the same group and the same thing’s happened this year. We’re in a little bit of a tough stretch right now, we were riding high coming out of Baltimore, struggled down in Tampa, struggled here. But the Yanks are playing good baseball, too, they’ve got a little bit of that magic working. You’ve just got to show up to play the next day, nothing more than that. That’s why it always helps to have veteran players, too. You get a lot of young players, when you get those low points, it affects you in a bad way.”
Buckle up.
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MARTIN’S KNEE: Russell Martin’s status for Friday is a key question facing the Blue Jays after a “biting” sensation in his left knee prompted him to skip his at-bat in the ninth inning Wednesday night. A day off Thursday may be enough time to have him ready for the opener against the Red Sox.
“I’m sure it will, I’m not too concerned about it,” he says. “It’s something I’ve been dealing with for a while now and I’ve actually hit pretty well with my knee bugging me. I’m not too concerned.”
Martin buckled during an at-bat in the seventh but continued to play defence, throwing out Chase Headley trying to steal second in the eighth.
“Russ is a warrior, an absolute warrior,” says Marcus Stroman. “He gets beat up back there but you never hear him complain, he’s the last guy to ever show any weakness and he’s back there every single day. That’s a testament to Russ, and how much he’s able to play through pain for us, for his brothers out there, because he wants to be out there with us competing.”
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LIRIANO READY: The Blue Jays are expecting to have Francisco Liriano available for the Red Sox series and he should come in handy given the possibility of facing David Ortiz multiple times in leverage spots late in the game.
Brett Cecil is likely to get any key late at-bats, but Liriano – who left Monday’s game with back tightness that has since eased – gives John Gibbons more options earlier on.
“He’s good, he should be good to go,” says Gibbons. “We’ll determine this weekend what we’re going to do next week (with the rotation).”
Marco Estrada, J.A. Happ and Aaron Sanchez start for the Blue Jays this weekend against the Boston Red Sox. R.A. Dickey was pushed back from Sunday for Sanchez, but with the off-day Thursday, the Blue Jays could consider starting Marcus Stroman on normal rest Monday against the Tampa Bay Rays and inserting Liriano for a start Tuesday.
Estrada and Happ could follow before Dickey is reinserted in Sanchez’s place during the road series in Anaheim as a way to limit the right-hander’s workload.
