TORONTO – The Toronto Blue Jays desperately needed someone to turn the release valve.
On the heels of a disastrous performance in a four-game sweep at the hands of the Texas Rangers that severely impacted their footing in the wild-card race, the build-up of pressure on the club was palpable.
Dispiriting play, a corresponding drop in the standings and heaving booing from the home crowd all contributed to some seriously bad vibes.
On Friday, though, Jose Berrios took things into his own hands and loosened the knob by delivering a gem on the mound while Vladimir Guerrero Jr. clobbered a three-run homer to lift the Blue Jays to a 3-0 win over the Boston Red Sox in front of 35,680 at Rogers Centre.
The duo’s contributions offered temporary relief, helping the Blue Jays keep pace in the wild-card race. The club trails the Rangers, who suffered a 12-3 loss to the Cleveland Guardians, by 1.5 games and sits one game behind the Seattle Mariners, who host the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night.
The pressure is by no means gone, though. The Blue Jays will need to string together wins while at the same time receiving help on the out-of-town scoreboard.
“No matter how, we want to win,” Berrios said. “And we did it. Obviously, we passed through a rough four-game series against Texas, but we turned the page we will leave that in the [rear-view]. Tonight, we start with a win and hopefully we can [begin a] streak.”
With Friday marking Roberto Clemente Day across the majors, it proved special for Berrios, a native of Bayamon, Puerto Rico. It was the first time he pitched on the celebratory day in his career.
“It was special,” said Berrios. “I was relishing pitching on this day. I was so happy, so excited, so proud about it and tonight I did pretty good work on the mound.”
Adding to the serendipity was that Friday was Berrios’s bobblehead giveaway at Rogers Centre as well as the birthday of his youngest son, Diego.
“A lot of good things happening today,” he said. “I took that to motivate myself to go out there and do my work.”
The right-hander allowed doubles in three separate innings to the Red Sox but bore down to work out of the jams each time. He allowed just five hits over seven scoreless innings, striking out eight and walking none.
Berrios had all four pitches working for him and generated 13 whiffs on 48 swings. The velocity on his sinker was up, averaging 94.2 m.p.h. and topping out at 95.8.
“He was executing at a really, really high level,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “We need a really good trip through the rotation and that start from Jose was outstanding.”
Right-hander Jordan Hicks followed Berrios with a scoreless eighth inning and Jordan Romano did the same in the ninth to earn his 35th save of the season.
Guerrero Jr. provided the game’s only offence with his blast in the third inning. Daulton Varsho reached on a fielder’s choice and Bo Bichette walked before Guerrero Jr. hammered a first-pitch fastball from Red Sox starter Brayan Bello into the left-field stands to give the Blue Jays a 3-0 lead.
“Huge,” said Schneider. “Changes the whole game, really. When you can hit a home run with guys on, with traffic, it's a momentum shifter. And with our pitching staff, it just makes it very easy to maintain that kind of level of focus or that level of energy. But what’s kind of been eluding us all year is that big swing with guys on. Today we got it.”
The long shot, Guerrero Jr.’s second in as many days and 23rd of the season, left his bat at 108.3 m.p.h.
“I've been working,” Guerrero Jr., said through interpreter Hector Lebron. “I never stopped working. Trying to listen to all my hitting coaches, of course, and then today, tried to take it to the game with a nice plan.”
The blast brought the Rogers Centre faithful to its feet with a roaring applause, providing a much different feeling than the past two games, which featured a chorus of boos heaped upon Guerrero Jr. and the home side.
The Blue Jays needed to have a short memory, according to the slugger.
“We're pretty good at turning the page,” said Guerrero Jr. “Yeah, it was a tough series against the Rangers, but we turned the page and came out with the victory tonight.
“The key is just to leave everything in the past,” he added. “You just forget about it. It's a new day and be positive and just keep working hard.”
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