Blue Jays keep rolling with complete team effort

It’s the type of team win MLB managers dream of, with contributions up and down the batting order, a strong starting pitching performance and, most important of all, a win.

ST. LOUIS — It’s been a while since the Toronto Blue Jays have put together a stretch quite this good — 2023, or maybe longer.

It’s not just the result — their 10-9 win over the Cardinals Tuesday assures the Blue Jays of a fifth consecutive series win and pushes their record to 37-30, a season-best seven games above .500.

But also consider how they got there. They had home runs from two elite defensive players, with both Andres Gimenez and Alejandro Kirk going deep. They got a tenacious starting pitching effort from Chris Bassitt, who went seven despite allowing four runs.

Better still, they did so on a night Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was getting scheduled rest, and Alan Roden delivered two hits including an RBI single after neck discomfort bumped Nathan Lukes from the starting lineup and Roden moved up in the batting order.

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All told, this was another complete team effort. It’s the kind of game the Blue Jays have been putting together regularly and it’s why they’re in playoff position despite some significant injuries.

“I’m just really proud of the team,” Bassitt said. “We’re really fighting for each other, we’re working together and it’s really hard to beat us when we’re doing that.”

The Blue Jays are now performing like a team capable of making the playoffs again, but a year ago, they never climbed more than three games above the .500 mark.

“Sometimes you’ve gotta go through some (crap) to basically get exposed and then fix issues,” Bassitt said. “Last year, I definitely never want to go through it again, but it exposed a lot of things and tested a lot of people.”

A year later, Bassitt says there’s alignment up and down the organization. And on the field, the team’s performing at a level that corresponds with expectations.

“It’s cool to watch it unfold, it really is,” said manager John Schneider. “It hasn’t been like this in a long time.”

The scoring started early Tuesday, with a three-run home run for Gimenez in the first inning. The blast to right field was his fourth of the season – but his first since March, ending a stretch of 144 plate appearances without a homer.

Later, Kirk continued his hot hitting with his second home run in as many days, a two-run shot to centre that expanded the Blue Jays’ lead to 8-4. That lead narrowed when reliever Chad Green allowed a Nolan Arenado homer then let two more reach in the ninth.

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Closer Jeff Hoffman then allowed a three-run home run to Willson Contreras before securing the final out, and the outing means Hoffman won’t be available Wednesday as he has now pitched four times in five days.

On the season, Kirk’s now hitting .323 with an .807 OPS, numbers that would be impressive even if he didn’t rank in the 100th percentile for catcher defence, as measured by Baseball Savant.

“He’s probably our best player right now,” Bassitt said. “I don’t think that’s a stretch by any means. He doesn’t say a lot of words, but then all of a sudden he goes out there and plays some of the best defence, and his offence is off the charts right now. He’s carrying our team.”

As for Bassitt, he pitched better than his final line might suggest. All four of the runs he allowed came in the fourth inning, when he left a cutter up in the zone against Nolan Gorman, who hammered it over the right field wall for a three-run homer.

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Yet to Bassitt’s credit, he recovered from the home run to escape the fourth and pitch three more scoreless innings. While using Hoffman for the final out wasn’t ideal, Bassitt’s performance meant the bullpen’s load was manageable.

“I’m really happy,” he said. “It’s probably the happiest I’ll be giving up four runs.”

Three starts after moving back to the first base side of the pitching rubber, Bassitt likes that the change has allowed him to pitch to contact and haul more innings. While he might get a little less swing and miss this way, and he’s still searching for his ideal release point, he likes the early returns.

“I’ll never be back on the third base side,” he said. “It’s just fixing two months of habits.”

Before Tuesday’s game, Schneider confirmed that the Blue Jays will roll with their rotation through the upcoming Phillies series, which means Bowden Francis will face the team that scored seven runs in 1.2 innings against him a couple weeks ago.

While there’s risk in letting Francis face a high-octane lineup at a time that he leads MLB in home runs allowed and owns a 6.12 ERA, the Blue Jays believe he can rebound. Plus, they prefer not to over-exert their other starters by skipping his rotation spot or going to another bullpen game. Now, Francis will have the chance to reward the Blue Jays’ faith.

In the meantime, there’s a chance for a sweep against the Cardinals, with Eric Lauer set to start and Spencer Turnbull available in a bulk role. And while some questions linger on the pitching side, the team’s confidence level is high.

“They’re grinders, man,” said Schneider. “This is such a cool group and they don’t quit. They’re tight. They support each other. They’re happy for one another. It says a lot. The sum of our parts is pretty damn good. Hopefully we get back to full strength and it gets that much better, but the way they’re going about it right now is professional and pretty (expletive) awesome.”