BOSTON – Slowly, methodically the Toronto Blue Jays are undoing the damage from a poor June and their dismal 2-8 road trip that preceded the all-star break.
Monday night’s 14-1 thrashing of the putrid Boston Red Sox made it eight wins in 11 outings since play resumed, and while most of those victories have come against the American League’s dreckier outfits, they’ve been full value more often than not.
Yes, Melky Cabrera and Jose Bautista have been silly hot and are doing much of the heavy lifting, but Ryan Goins and Dan Johnson each have seven RBIs during the current hot stretch. Juan Francisco has six, while Jose Reyes, Dioner Navarro, Colby Rasmus and Munenori Kawasaki all have five.
Even without injured sluggers Edwin Encarnacion, Adam Lind and Brett Lawrie, the Blue Jays are getting contributions all over the lineup.
“Today was a microcosm of what we’ve done successfully after the break,” said R.A. Dickey, whose dominance over seven innings of one-run ball with 10 strikeouts was overshadowed by a season-high matching offensive output.
“You’re called upon to advance runners with a bunt – you get that done (Jose Thole in the fourth, setting up Goins’ two-run double). You’re called on to get a guy in from third base with less than two outs – Reyes hits a fly ball, scores a run (part of the nine-run sixth). You’re doing the things that make good baseball players good baseball players, and we’re doing it fairly consistently.
“That’s what I’m seeing us execute more consistently, just fundamental baseball.”
The Blue Jays last did that on a regular basis during their scorching May and early June, but then things came undone and they returned from the all-star break grinding with a thinned out lineup and a deficit in the standings.
Monday’s win leaves them second in the AL East at 57-50, 2.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles but in possession of the second wild card, two games in front of the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners. They’re also 8-3 against the reeling Red Sox (48-57), who may be on the verge of a trade deadline selloff and played like a team about to walk the plank.
While the defending World Series champions are a team there for the taking, the Blue Jays, who acquired infielder Danny Valencia from the Kansas City Royals on Monday evening, are making sure to capitalize on that.
“Scoring runs – that speaks for itself,” Thole said of what’s been working so well. “Our starters were really good in that stretch and we gave them no run support. To give them some run support has been a big difference and just having really good ABs, doing the right things, moving runners over, moving guys in from third, those are the things we have to do right now.
“Everything is falling in line, no question. Major League Baseball players have to play the game the right way.”
Cabrera has been instrumental on that front, and set the tone Monday before 37,974 at Fenway Park with a two-run shot in the first off Clay Buchholz and a three-run shot during the nine-run sixth that smashed the windshield of car parked beyond the Green Monster.
He’s now 19-for-44 (.432) with three homers and a team-high 13 RBIs since the all-star break.
“Those four days off were good. Even though I rested a lot, I continued to work, but it’s good because it gave me a breather and I can continue to play hard like I always do,” Cabrera said in comments interpreted by third base coach Luis Rivera. “I feel great at the plate right now.”
Cabrera is far from the only one.
Bautista added two more hits Monday and is 13-for-39 (.333) with three homers and seven RBIs since the break. Kawasaki had two hits and two RBIs while Goins had four hits and four RBIs and is now 9-for-25 since his recall a week ago, looking like a different hitter than the one who hit .150 in April.
“I don’t think there ever was a belief that I couldn’t do it here,” said Goins. “I’m a confident player and I knew I’d get the job done, I just wasn’t getting it done early. They brought guys in to get it done, now I’ve got another opportunity, hopefully I can capitalize on it.”
Dickey certainly made the most of the offensive outburst and has now won consecutive starts for the first time in nearly two months. Mixing speeds on his knuckleball to brilliant effect, he was as good as he’s been this year.
“I kind of wish I could divide them up over three starts,” Dickey said of the run support. “That was fun.”
For the Blue Jays as a whole it is, too. They’ve corrected themselves in a major way, and now they must keep the good times rolling.