The Toronto Blue Jays (59-46) took two of three from the Baltimore Orioles (59-45) this weekend, making an already cramped American League East race even tighter. Toronto occupied first place briefly over the weekend, after winning the first two games of the series, but surrendered the position back to the Orioles with Sunday’s loss. Toronto, Baltimore and the Boston Red Sox now enter the week within 1.5 games of one another atop the division.
The beginning of the stretch run
With only a third of the season remaining, Monday’s non-waiver trade deadline looming, and both teams battling for first place in the AL East, this series took on much more importance that one might expect from a three-gamer in late July.
“Any win against them is huge,” said Marco Estrada, who started Friday night’s 6-5 Blue Jays victory. “We needed to win this series.”
Toronto and Baltimore have played each other extremely competitively to this point, with the Blue Jays holding the edge in the season series, 7-6, while outscoring the Orioles 77-64. Of course, the Orioles hold the edge atop the division by half a game.
Blue Jays fans certainly recognized the importance of the series, packing Rogers Centre to the rafters with more than 46,000 in attendance for each game.
“It’s been an unbelievable atmosphere. It definitely feels like the post-season,” said centre-fielder Kevin Pillar. “And we approached these games like post-season games. Especially this late in the season, when we’re playing for something like first place against a team that we consider a rival.”
Of course, the battles between these two sides are far from over, as the Blue Jays will go to Baltimore for three games at the end of August and then host the Orioles in late September. Of Toronto’s remaining 57 games, 31 will be against AL East opponents.
Estrada good as usual despite back flare-up
Estrada pitched well in Friday’s series opener, allowing three earned runs on five hits over six innings while striking out six. But he admitted after the game that his sore lower back is still bothering him.
Estrada’s velocity was down early in the game, and he struggled to locate his change-up, spiking several. But the right-hander said he began to feel more comfortable as the game went on.
“Early on, it’s tough. But once I loosened up later in the game I was able to pitch a little bit better. I’ve just got to find a way to get my back loose early on,” Estrada said. “I was missing with my change-up down. I think not being able to rotate as much kind of restricts me a little bit. That’s why I bounced so many of them.”
Estrada’s back issue will have to be closely monitored by the Blue Jays over the final two months of the season. The 33-year-old received a series of cortisone injections earlier this month and didn’t pitch for 20 days in an attempt to help him get over it.
But even though the injury has lingered for most of the season, Estrada has still been one of the Blue Jays’ best pitchers, posting a 3.02 ERA in 18 starts. He leads baseball in hits per nine innings (5.9) and opponents batting average (.181). Clearly, Estrada knows how to manage the injury and still be effective when he’s not at full health.
“It seems like the more pitches I throw, the better it gets. It tends to loosen up a bit. It never completely goes away. But it’s definitely manageable and that’s basically what I’ve been doing my last few outings,” Estrada said. “It’s getting there. Hopefully soon I’ll be back to normal and I can give the guys some better innings.”
Veteran relievers come through
The Blue Jays got some important innings out of a couple recently acquired 39-year-old bullpen arms this series.
Newcomer Joaquin Benoit, obtained in a trade with the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday, threw a pair of strong innings in high-leverage situations. First, he tossed a scoreless seventh Friday night to help protect a two-run lead. Then, he pitched a scoreless eighth on Sunday afternoon to preserve a tie.
“We like what we’ve seen out of him. He’s got a track record. He’s a veteran guy, that’s always big,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “This was the first time we’ve seen him in that role, and he came through.”
Meanwhile, Jason Grilli continued to have success in the set-up role he’s taken on since arriving in Toronto two months ago. He helped get the ball to closer Roberto Osuna on Friday, and pitched a scoreless tenth inning on Sunday in a tie game.
“We have some guys with a lot of experience. Big time veteran relievers. It just makes the team that much better having those guys out there,” Estrada said. “We need them. We need all the pitching we can get.”
The Blue Jays may or may not add to their bullpen before Monday’s non-waiver trade deadline. But Gibbons says the additions of Grilli and Benoit have already paid dividends.
“They’ve been around, and they’ve been good,” Gibbons said. “There’s something about a guy who’s been through it so many times. You can bring him into any situation. It’s not like it’s some young kid who might be a little wide-eyed. It doesn’t mean they’re going to get it done every time. But it’s not foreign to them. “
Happ pitches well again
J.A. Happ started the second game of the series and threw his best outing of the season, holding the Orioles to three hits and a run over seven innings while striking out 11.
“You can’t say enough good things about him,” Gibbons said. “Not just today—he’s been doing it all year.”
Happ put together a remarkable month of July, pitching to a 1.44 ERA in five outings while opposing batters hit just .182/.250/.264 against him. Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin says Happ’s fastball has been “explosive” lately, and that the left-hander (who threw his four-seamer 56 percent of the time in July) is doing a great job of locating it all over the zone.
“When he’s using both sides of the plate, and up and down as well, it’s like he has four different pitches just with this fastball,” Martin said. “[Saturday] was one of those days where he had good life on the fastball and everything else just kind of played off of that.”
Tulowitzki’s status uncertain
Troy Tulowitzki took a 93-mph Chris Tillman fastball off his right thumb in Sunday’s finale, which caused a chip fracture on the middle of his knuckle. The shortstop was able to play the field after the injury, but couldn’t grip a bat as his thumb grew swollen and painful.
He wore a small, plastic brace on the thumb after the game and said he wasn’t sure if he’d have to head to the disabled list or if the injury was something he could play through. He’ll be re-evaluated before Monday’s game in Houston.
“I’ll get up, come to the field, see how it feels, and hopefully get some of the inflammation out of there,” Tulowitzki said. “And if I can throw, if I can grip a bat, we’ll see how long it takes. Hopefully not too long.”
If Tulowitzki misses any time, the Blue Jays would need to add another infielder to the roster, as Josh Donaldson is banged up himself. Ryan Goins, currently playing for triple-A Buffalo, is the most obvious candidate. The question then would be whether the team places Tulowitzki on the 15-day disabled list or not.
If Tulowitzki avoids the DL but still misses a few games, the Blue Jays would have to risk losing a player in order to add Goins, as there are no optionable non-regulars currently on the major league roster. The club’s bullpen is also overworked after this weekend’s series, meaning a reliever may need to be added as well.
And then there’s the spectre of Monday’s trade deadline, which could mean more roster shuffling for the Blue Jays. The only thing that’s certain as of now is that Toronto’s brain trust will be busy over the next 24 hours.
