TORONTO – It took a few weeks, but the Toronto Blue Jays are finally starting to resemble the team that led Major League Baseball by 127 runs last year.
Not only are the likes of Jose Bautista and Josh Donaldson contributing, but there’s also some offensive depth. Kevin Pillar and Darwin Barney each had two-hit games Sunday and Ezequiel Carrera’s big weekend continued as the Blue Jays beat the Oakland Athletics 6-3 to even their record at 10-10.
“I just got my ass kicked,” Athletics starter Eric Surkamp said. “That’s pretty much all there is to it. They’re a good lineup. You make mistakes, they’re going to make you pay for it.”
“The middle of that order is probably the best in baseball,” he continued. “Just a tough lineup when you’re not on top of your game.”
While the win wasn’t quite as convincing as Saturday’s 9-3 blowout, there was still plenty of offence to go around. The top of the order continued producing, as Bautista and Carrera both homered, and Donaldson contributed a double and a walk on a day that the Blue Jays celebrated his MVP season with a bobblehead and invited his mother to throw out the first pitch in front of a sellout crowd at Rogers Centre.
“That was a great moment,” Donaldson said. “I know how proud my mother is of me. We have a great relationship and to be able to share that — it’s a memory that’ll last a lifetime.”
The production kept coming, as Justin Smoak, Pillar and Barney strung together back-to-back RBI singles in the third inning to put the Blue Jays ahead for good. That’s the kind of hitting they got throughout the 2015 season, when the likes of Smoak, Pillar, Ryan Goins and Chris Colabello added depth to a Blue Jays lineup with more than its share of stars.
“It starts with the contribution of Carrera,” Pillar said. “The last couple of days really ignited this offence. I’ve been in his position before and I know how tough it is to come off the bench. What he’s been able to do is really getting us going.”
Carrera now has six hits in his last 10 at bats, and manager John Gibbons indicated that he’ll likely get the chance to start in left field again Monday. Michael Saunders, the Blue Jays’ primary left fielder, has been nursing a sore hamstring, so Carrera’s hot streak comes at the perfect time for the Blue Jays.
“We all know these guys can hit,” Barney said. “We’re very confident in our ability on the offensive side. It’s nice to give our pitching staff a little help. They’ve been throwing the ball well this year. We’ve got big league hitters and our lineup’s going to put up runs.”
The Blue Jays played without catcher Russell Martin, who was pulled from the lineup with neck soreness an hour before game time and replaced by Josh Thole. Martin, who left Friday’s game with neck spasms, is now day to day.
Meanwhile, Drew Hutchison pitched respectably in his season debut, logging 5.2 innings with five strikeouts. Though he struggled with his control at times, he allowed just two runs on four hits and three walks in the spot start.
“I felt I was a little off,” Hutchison said. “I wasn’t real sharp, but I made some big pitches when I needed to and that’s really what it’s about.”
Blue Jays decision makers weren’t as hard on Hutchison as he was on himself.
“The kid just wins, that’s all I know,” Gibbons said. “He brings out the best in the offence. We always score, so he’s also the good luck charm.”
“He’s certainly a major-league calibre pitcher,” Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker said before the game. “He’s still a big part of this team and organization and I’m sure he’ll make a lot of starts for us this year.”
Considering the attrition most teams face in the course of a long season, every club needs pitchers like Hutchison ready in the minor leagues. That need’s even more acute in Toronto, since the Blue Jays plan to transition Aaron Sanchez out of the rotation later in the season. One way or another, he’ll get more chances at the big league level.
“I’m not where I’d like to be,” Hutchison said. “I think that’s obvious, but you do what you need to do, you go down (to triple-A) and you handle business and that’s what I’ve done.”
In the meantime, the Blue Jays are expected to option Hutchison back to triple-A this week and promote a right-handed bat, possibly Matt Dominguez, for the Chicago White Sox and their lefty-heavy pitching staff.
The White Sox will face a Blue Jays team that’s strung together three consecutive five-run games for the first time all year. Safe to say it won’t be the last time.
“We all expected it,” Gibbons said. “I’ve always felt — and I think most people did — that it was just a matter of time. You weren’t going to hold us down forever, but it’s too early to state that we’re on fire, I’ll put it that way.”