CLEVELAND – The last time George Springer had homered was July 7. That changed on Wednesday night against the Cleveland Guardians, but he sure did have to work for it.
The Toronto Blue Jays right-fielder came to the plate in the first inning against rookie left-hander Logan Allen and had the kitchen sink thrown at him. Allen started Springer off with a sweeper that caught the inside of the strike zone and then mixed in all of his offerings. Springer saw one slider, three sweepers, three changeups and six fastballs.
Springer worked a full count and, late in the at-bat, decided to call a timeout.
“It's just about slowing down,” Springer said. “Just get in your breath and understand or at least have a thought process of what might happen. Not trying to overthink, but just really trying to slow yourself down.”
He fouled off a total of eight pitches before finally getting a fastball up in the zone and turning on it. Springer deposited it into the left-field stands — a 393-foot shot, for his 14th of the season. It gave the Blue Jays their only run, helping the club to a 1-0 win over the Guardians at Progressive Field.
“He came in and said, ‘Alright, I'm good. That was about three at-bats right there,’” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider.
The main benefactor of Springer’s shot was Blue Jays right-hander Kevin Gausman, who spun a seven-inning gem and made the most of the tiny run support — a theme that’s followed him all season.
“He almost had to be perfect today and he was,” said Schneider.
The Blue Jays have scored four runs in three games against the Guardians and yet, have come away with two wins. It’s a testament to the club’s excellent pitching and Gausman underscored that on Wednesday.
He allowed four hits over seven scoreless frames, striking out six and walking none while tossing 90 pitches. It was a classic Gausman outing, featuring mostly fastballs up in the zone and splitters down. The right-hander improved his American League-leading strikeout total to 183 on the season, while lowering his ERA to 3.04.
The Guardians worked him for 26 pitches in the opening frame, but Gausman settled down considerably after that.
“They did a good job, especially in the first, of getting my pitch count up and I felt like we did a good job after that of bouncing back and trying to be the aggressor and just pound the strike zone and pitch off my fastball,” Gausman said.
He was helped by some excellent outfield defence with centre-fielder Daulton Varsho chasing down several hard-hit balls and left-fielder Whit Merrifield saving a run in the first inning by diving and fully extending to snag a liner off the bat of Jose Ramirez. Catcher Alejandro Kirk threw out a baserunner in the fourth and in the seventh frame, Gausman executed a crucial pick off of Oscar Gonzalez, who represented the tying run at second base.
After Gausman surrendered a double to Gonzalez, Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker visited him on the mound and asked the right-hander to try to catch the runner sleeping at second. Gausman executed perfectly to end the inning and pointed to the visitors’ dugout as if to say, ‘Thank you,’ as he walked off the mound.
He says the play was called by bench coach Don Mattingly.
“He has such a good baseball IQ,” said Gausman. “He's watching everything. He probably saw the at-bat before [and Gonzalez] getting a big secondary lead. And so, when Pete came out, he told me right away, we're going to put on a pick right here.
“It was perfect timing that it all ended up working out and, obviously, got me out of a huge jam. Those things are huge, the little things that you rely on your staff for.”
The little things were indeed important on Wednesday, and all series really, given that the games have been so low-scoring and tight. Other than Springer’s home run, Allen and a trio of Guardians relievers shut down the Blue Jays.
They did manage to load the bases with none out in the eighth inning on consecutive singles by Springer, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Matt Chapman. However, Danny Jansen promptly flew out to right-field and Davis Schneider hit into an inning-ending double play that was the result of a pretty diving stab and glove flip by Guardians shortstop Gabriel Arias.
“When you're not really scoring a lot, you got to execute,” said Schneider. “Pitching and defence has been really good for us all year.
“Weird three games,” the manager added. “Happy to come out with two of them so far.”
Of course, that doesn’t happen without Springer’s arduous at-bat in the first inning.
“Neither him or I wants to quit,” said Springer. “I don't think anybody wants to come out on the [wrong] side of a good battle like that. He was making some good pitches, I was able to foul some off. It's just a good battle and to come out on the other side, hey, I'll take it.”
NOTES: Reliever Chad Green will enter MLB's concussion protocol after being hit in the head on a throw from catcher Tyler Heineman during a rehab appearance with the Buffalo Bisons on Tuesday night. Green, who has been working his way back from Tommy John surgery and was close to being activated by the Blue Jays, will now be sidelined for at least seven days ... Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano (lower back) was to throw off the mound Wednesday at Rogers Centre. He'll be re-evaluated on Thursday and the club will determine whether he'll be activated from the injured list on Friday or be sent on a rehab assignment.
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