Bichette gets closer to breakout as Blue Jays grab series-opening win over Orioles

BALTIMORE — Bo Bichette’s felt like he’s on the verge of breaking out all season but over the past week, give or take, the results have started to come. He’s isn’t hot yet, at least not in the carry-a-team way he’s shown in the past, although on his current trajectory, it seems like only a matter of time before he and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. combine to do just that.

The final ingredient?

“Just going up there with freedom,” the all-star shortstop explained before collecting three hits, a walk and a stolen base for the Toronto Blue Jays in a series-opening 3-2 win in 10 innings over the Baltimore Orioles. “Freedom for me is getting in the box and just really playing free, playing fearless. I don't feel like I'm playing with a ton of fear, but there's probably a little bit in there, because if I had none, I would be doing what I normally do. It's been better recently. Maybe the results haven't been great but better, not being me completely. I'm happy with the progress I'm making.”

That progress, of course, is essential for a struggling Blue Jays team desperate for the MVP-calibre production only he and Guerrero on the current roster can provide.

The duo — along with Daulton Varsho, who hit a tying homer in the eighth and go-ahead RBI groundout in the 10^th — was right in the middle of the little offence a lineup depleted by the illnesses of George Springer, Justin Turner and Kevin Kiermaier plus Danny Jansen’s back could muster before 24,358 at Camden Yards.

They combined with Jose Berrios — who delivered seven dominant innings after being so sick the past couple days that his status was uncertain until his fever broke around 10 a.m. — to deliver a win that resonated beyond normal.

“You don't want to say May 13th is a huge game but this was a huge (expletive) win,” said manager John Schneider. “We had nine guys and we obviously had no moves to make so I couldn't be more proud of the guys that that were out there.”

Added Berrios: “Tonight was a great win but also a special one because but we had nine players, we had two pitchers, (Chris) Bassitt and (Kevin) Gausman to be ready to get in the game in an emergency. Wins like those give us confidence, they tell us what kind of team we can be out there when we play together and play the right way.”

Especially if Bichette can kick it into high gear the way Guerrero has been of late.

In the second, Bichette led off with a single and stole second but after a Daniel Vogelbach walk, was stranded there. In the fourth, he followed Guerrero’s one-out single with another base hit of his own to put men in the corners, but again the duo was stranded.

The Blue Jays finally broke through in the sixth when Guerrero walked, Bichette singled and Vogelbach ended an 0-for-10 skid with a base hit that tied the game 1-1. 

There rest of the lineup managed only an Ernie Clement infield single until the eighth when Varsho, who leaped over the centre-field wall to steal a homer from Ryan O’Hearn and the offence-rich Orioles, went all Robin Hood and gave that homer to the run-poor Blue Jays, tying the game 2-2.

Guerrero and Bichette then worked walks against Yennier Cano but the Orioles brought in lefty Danny Coulombe to face Vogelbach. The Blue Jays, with their righty bench options unavailable, watched him rip a 105.7 m.p.h. grounder that second baseman Jorge Mateo picked smartly to start an inning-ending double play.

Then in the 10^th, with runners on the corners and one out after Clement’s bunt single put men on the corners, Varsho ripped a grounder snared by Mateo to give the Blue Jays their first lead of the night.

Jordan Romano, in his second inning of work, locked things down in the bottom half, capping a win made unlikely by the circumstances.

“It just showed that the nine guys in the lineup really, really care about this team,” said Varsho. “And up and down the lineup, we put really good at-bats together and we won this game because of that.”

Added Schneider: “I love the way they went about it, you know what I mean? You have to have a certain mindset, mentality when you get days like this, where guys are barely able to stand up and you're forced into matchups that you don't love. So I couldn't appreciate the effort any more and hopefully it's a character building win for us.”

The Blue Jays’ late work ensured Berrios, victimized only by Adley Rutschman solo shots in the fourth and sixth innings, wasn’t hung with a loss after seven outstanding innings. 

Berrios has been pitching all season with the sort of fearlessness that Bichette is trying to get to, which has less to do with being scared than it does with being locked in.

Bichette explained it as, “you want to hit the fastball, but in the back of your mind, you're wondering if he might throw you something else. It's not 100 per cent conviction, commitment to whatever you want to do in that approach. When anybody's at their best, they're 100 per cent committed. You watch Vladdy right now, he's 100 per cent committed, he's taking his ‘A’ swing every time. I feel like I've been there at times, but not consistent enough.”

He's getting there, though, working steadily toward being the best version of himself, the version the Blue Jays so need.

"Educated guessing is good, but just guessing to guess is not. I've probably been there at times, for sure, overthinking it,” he said. “But it's not like in the past in my career when I would struggle, I would be panicking, trying to get hits. I'm really not. Maybe trying to be too fine, being too good of a hitter and that's not necessarily what I did when I came up. I did my work and preparation for my approach and then when I went out there, I tried to hit the ball as hard as I could and, that's just kind of what I'm trying to do better.”