For the first time in MLB history, the Toronto Blue Jays played host to the San Diego Padres this week.
The Jays (57-45) came away with two wins and a loss, and now sit two games back of Baltimore in the AL East ahead of big a three-game set against the Orioles that opens Friday.
Here are a few things we learned from the first-ever visit from the Padres.
The Travis show
The middle game of this series was bananas, and it ended with a 12th-inning rally spurred by 25-year-old Devon Travis.
The Blue Jays fell behind 6-4 in the top of the 12th after Jesse Chavez gave up a two-run homer, and it looked like the loss was coming.
But the Jays rallied, and had two on base with Travis at the plate. First, the second baseman came a few feet away from a walk-off homer that went just foul. Then he drew a walk to cap off a clutch 14-pitch at-bat to load the bases for the top of the order.
Jose Bautista drew an RBI on a walk, and after Josh Donaldson grounded out, Padres pitcher Paul Clemens served up a wild pitch to Edwin Encarnacion and Travis sprinted home from third, scoring just in time.
Then the Blue Jays mobbed Travis at the plate, celebrating like this was a big game in late September.
As manager John Gibbons said, afterwards: “That was some kind of at-bat by Travis.”
Should he stay or should he go (to the bullpen)?
Everybody still wants to know what’s going to happen with right-hander Aaron Sanchez. Gibbons is sick of talking about it, and you really can’t blame him, so hopefully he doesn’t read this.
The plan was to move Sanchez to the bullpen once he saw enough innings, due to the Jays not wanting to overwork his young arm. Sanchez has now pitched 132.1 frames, one inning shy of his career-high.
And he threw seven innings of shutout ball in the series opener against the Padres, a 4-2 Toronto win. His 2.72 ERA is the best in the AL. You can see why moving him to the bullpen is a tough decision.
The 24-year-old gave up three hits on Monday (in six of 20 starts this season, he has allowed three hits or fewer) to move to 11-1. He recorded his 200th career strikeout and surrendered no runs for the third time this season.
As Gibbons will tell you, Sanchez’s presence in the bullpen would be huge. And a massive loss for the starting rotation.
Making moves
Speedy veteran outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. became a Blue Jay on Tuesday morning. Right-handed reliever Joaquin Benoit became a Blue Jay on Tuesday night.
Upton Jr. gives the Jays flexibility because he can play all three outfield positions. He’s also already stolen 20 bases this season, which is a welcome addition to a team short on speed threats. Kevin Pillar previously led the team in that category with eight.
Benoit came in exchange for Drew Storen—one struggling reliever for another. Maybe a change of scenery will be a good thing? Only time will tell.
On Wednesday, Benoit saw his first action in Toronto and held the Padres scoreless in the ninth, with two strikeouts and two walks.
Fandom
Monday’s series-opening crowd of 41,483 at the Rogers Centre pushed attendance over the 2-million mark in 51 home games this season, the quickest the Jays have reached the mark since 1995.
They lead the AL with an average attendance of 40,036.
Dickey’s slump continues
R.A. Dickey (7-12) gave up six earned runs over 5 2/3 innings, including two home runs and four walks in Wednesday afternoon’s 8-4 loss. The veteran knuckleballer has now lost three in a row.
Afterwards, the 41-year-old told reporters he’s optimistic he can turn his season around.
Dickey did start strong, facing only three batters in the first (he walked Wil Myers, then picked him off) and went three up, three down in the second as well. But the Padres picked things up and had a 7-1 lead when Dickey exited the game.
Wednesday’s tilt started little more than 12 hours after the Blue Jays’ walk-off victory the night before, and saw Troy Tulowitzki, Michael Saunders and Russell Martin given the day off.
The whole team has Thursday off before Friday’s opener against the Orioles. Marco Estrada is scheduled to start, his second game back since he was on the DL with a lower back injury.