With the Jays playing the best baseball we’ve seen from them during the Ricciardi era, they’ve quickly become a team no one wants to play.
The Blue Jays aren't making many friends these days. All but mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, Canada's only Major League Baseball team is making life extremely difficult for the other teams that are bearing down on post-season play.
Going back to August 15th, the Jays entered a portion of the schedule that saw the team playing 29 straight games against teams ahead of them in the A.L. East and in the Wild Card race. Now 20 games into that stretch, the Jays are 14-6 and in the midst of an eight-game win streak, the fifth best in franchise history. If not for the 11-17 April and the 10-16 June leading to the dismissal of John Gibbons and three of his coaches, the Blue Jays would be right in the middle of the playoff chase. But that's hindsight, and that doesn't change a thing.
What the Blue Jays have become, is a very difficult team to play and one that all of the contenders would rather avoid. It has become a total team effort. Just scouring through the numbers laid down during the current win streak, it shows that for the first time this season, they are clicking on all cylinders. And when someone stumbles, a teammate is right there to pick them up.
Some perfect examples of this where on display during the 6-0 homestand sweep of the Minnesota Twins and Tampa Bay Rays. Last Tuesday against the Twins, David Purcey gave up five runs in just three innings of work, but the bullpen -- the best in the game -- locked it all down, allowing just two hits and zero runs the rest of the way. That allowed the offence to rally back with six runs from the fifth inning on to win 7-5. Wednesday night, reliable relievers Scott Downs and B.J. Ryan didn't have much as they allowed four runs over the final three innings to trail 4-3 going into the bottom of the ninth. A Twins miscue allowed the Jays to tie it and then John McDonald sent a rocket to centre in the 11th for a walk-off win. Thursday was a laugher, with Jesse Litsch throwing his second complete game shutout of the season and every Jay in the starting line-up chipping in at least one hit.
In came the first-place Rays for the weekend and the first batter on Friday night grounded a ball to Joe Inglett that he booted. That led to a pair of unearned runs behind Roy Halladay, and it looked like the magic was gone. Not so fast, y'all. Alex Rios stroked a pair of home runs, while an increasingly shaky Ryan bent but didn't break in the ninth as the streak reached six games.
Saturday proved to be one for the ages. Shaun Marcum returned to the rotation after a stint in Triple-A to get it back together and he didn't disappoint: seven innings, four hits, zero earned runs, three walks and seven Ks. They took a 3-0 lead into the ninth, only to have Ryan, aided by a second error by Inglett in as many days, cough up another fur ball, sending the game into extras. The Rays were able to scratch out a run in the top of 13th before the Jays were able to load the bases with two out against Tampa Bay closer Troy Pericval. Up stepped the almost-forgotten Gregg Zaun who launched a high fly ball to right on the first pitch that scrapped the back of the wall for a walk-off grand slam, sending the crowd into a delirium not seen at the Rogers Centre in a decade and a half. It was just the second walk-off slam in franchise history.
Then on Sunday, the crème-de-la- crème. Purcey took the hill against Matt Garza, who had owned the Jays all season to the tune of 31 innings, 19 hits and just a single earned run. Garza was effective as usual, allowing just one run in seven innings of work, but Purcey did him one better, allowing no runs over eight innings. And with the big boys in the bullpen given a break due to recent overuse, Jesse Carlson stepped into the closers role in the ninth and dispatched the Rays 1-2-3 with a pair of strikeouts.
So the Jays head out onto the road with eight games in seven days against the Sox, both White and Red and both involved in tight playoff chases of their own. Chicago holds a 2.5 game lead over Minnesota in the Central while the Jays’ sweep over the Rays has allowed Boston to pull within a game and a half of Tampa Bay in the East. With the Jays playing the best we've seen from them during the Ricciardi era, they will be a handful for these contenders.
And if the Jays continue to play like a "team" and now 10 games over .500, they should be at their spoiling best. Too bad it was too late but enjoy it for what it is. Under the calm hand of Cito Gaston, this group believes in itself, which should auger well for 2009.
