BOSTON — Following Monday night’s gut-wrenching loss at Fenway Park, the Toronto Blue Jays were understandably upset. Manager John Schneider and starter Chris Bassitt wore frustration on their faces, and their verbal tones matched those feelings. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. looked just as dejected as he hung his head while walking slowly from the clubhouse to the assembled media.
The reason for their misery was obvious as the team had just suffered a seventh straight loss and arguably its ugliest defeat this year.
The next afternoon, though, Schneider was chipper in his office. He laughed and cracked jokes and it was clear that feelings from the night before had dissipated. The manager reflected on the nature of the baseball schedule and noted how its daily grind can actually work like medicine.
“You’re sitting in a hotel and you’re thinking about [the loss] and you get here and you kind of just start your day,” Schneider said. “You do it again the next day, no matter what. So, I think it’s more of a blessing. You get around coaches, you guys [media], players, and you kind of just go about your day.”
The Blue Jays players, to their credit, brought that mindset to life on Tuesday night, flushing the previous night’s disappointment and responding with a 9-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox.
Guerrero Jr. collected two doubles and four RBIs, George Springer launched his first home run since June 4, and Kevin Gausman tossed six solid innings. Overall, it was an emphatic way to snap a losing streak.
“It’s been rough, especially yesterday,” Gausman said. “Yesterday was one of the toughest losses I’ve experienced over my career just because of everything that’s happened over the [last week].”
“My mindset today was to attack and, coming in, I was going to give it everything I got,” he continued. “Our offence just came out there and willed their way to winning that game, so that definitely made it a lot easier for me.”
The Red Sox opened the scoring in the second inning when Rafael Devers deposited a 2-2 fastball from Gausman 467 feet into the right-centre field bleachers for the longest home run of his career. They added another run when Tyler O’Neill tripled on a fielding miscue by Guerrero Jr. and then scored on Masataka Yoshida’s double to right field.
The Blue Jays responded with a haymaker in the next inning, though, batting around the lineup and scoring seven runs.
Danny Jansen doubled, Isiah Kiner-Falefa reached base with an infield hit, and both came around to score when Kevin Kiermaier ripped a base hit under the glove of second baseman Enmanuel Valdez.
Right-fielder Wilyer Abreu fielded the ball and sailed a throw over the Blue Jays dugout as Toronto tied the game at 2.
Red Sox starter Brayan Bello proceeded to load the bases for Guerrero Jr., who scorched a 111-m.p.h. double to centre that drove in two more runs. Then, Springer smacked a two-run homer to right-centre field that pushed the score to 7-2.
Springer was greeted by Guerrero Jr. at home plate after rounding the bases and continued his celebration in the dugout while donning the club’s home run jacket. It’s about the happiest the outfielder has looked during a month that’s registered as one of the worst of his entire career, from an offensive standpoint. He added two singles on the night and pushed his season OPS to .581, the second-worst among qualified hitters in MLB.
The 11-year veteran noted things have not been easy for him of late and was asked how he remains positive.
“I just understand that there’s more ways to help a baseball team than offensively,” Springer responded. “I can go play defence … whether it’s a walk, do anything that I can to stay in the moment. And [when] I don’t have success at the plate, if I can get somebody over to third base, I’m alright with it. So, I understand that but at the same time, I also understand I need to be better.
“Go out on the field and play as hard as I can, run as hard as I can, and hopefully the good results will start to come.”
Springer also took responsibility for Guerrero Jr.’s fielding miscue in the second inning. O’Neill popped a ball up to shallow right field that the first baseman gave chase to. As he tracked it, Guerrero Jr. backpedalled nearly the whole way and fell backward as the ball bounced out of his glove. Springer said he should have taken charge and called Guerrero Jr. off.
“I kind of let Vladdy down there,” Springer said. “I should know better. The ball tends to drift here toward right field. That’s completely on me. I should have called him off. I didn’t … I told him, ‘That ball’s on me and that’s not going to happen again.’”
The mistake caused Gausman to expend more pitches, but the right-hander pitched well overall, allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits, walking one and striking out five.
Shortstop Bo Bichette went 0-for-4 but drew a walk and scored in his return from a right calf issue that landed him on the 10-day injured list. He was slotted in the leadoff spot for just the third time this season and the plan for the next little while is for Bichette to stay there.
Daulton Varsho, meanwhile, is still out with a back issue. He suffered the injury in the ninth inning of Saturday’s game and hasn’t played since. The outfielder took part in light running and fielding drills prior to Tuesday’s game but is still experiencing soreness while swinging the bat. Schneider is hopeful Varsho could return sometime in the next two games and said the club is not considering an IL stint for him at this point.
The Blue Jays entered Tuesday with a 3.7 per cent chance to make the playoffs, according to FanGraphs, and while one victory won’t change that number dramatically, at least it’s a start.
“It’s been weird,” said Springer of the past week. “It’s been a lot of emotions — up, down. Feels like when you do something right, you kind of do something wrong, but I think we’ve done a really good job kind of staying in the fight a little bit. Obviously, you want to win. I think everyone in that locker room knows that we have to win. And we haven’t. So, to come out today with a big win is huge.”
On Wednesday, the baseball calendar will flip once again and bring a new day with more opportunities.
“I’ll sleep a little bit better tonight,” Schneider said. “But you got to come out and do it again tomorrow.”
