TORONTO – The all-star break’s arrival won’t be an entry point to the type of hope-for-the-best navel-gazing that’s marked the past decade for the Toronto Blue Jays, who for a change parted ways for the Midsummer Classic in possession of a post-season berth for the first time since 1993.
A 6-1 victory Sunday over the Detroit Tigers sent them off trending the right way, their 8-2 July boosting a 32-17 run since May 18. That’s the day they fell a season-worst four games under .500 after a three-game sweep by the Tampa Bay Rays, and it’s been a long steady climb to the second wild-card spot, two games behind the American League East-leading Baltimore Orioles (51-36), since.
“We’ve pitched well, we’ve gotten the timely hits, we’ve played really good defence,” said Josh Donaldson, who hit a three-run homer in the fourth that effectively settled things. “For the better part of the year we’ve been able to complete that formula most of the time. That’s why we have a better record than what we did last year (45-46 at the break).”
R.A. Dickey threw seven strong innings for the 51-40 Blue Jays, who matched their most wins prior to the break since the 1992 squad that won the World Series. Josh Thole opened the scoring with a two-out, two-run single in the second for his second and third RBIs of the season, and first since April 4, when he hit a solo homer off Drew Smyly in the season’s second game.
“It’s been a grind for me offensively, but to come through and get a hit, two RBIs, then my next at-bat walk when we turned the order over was big,” said Thole, who scored on Donaldson’s homer. “It felt good today.”
Donaldson, one of five Blue Jays headed to San Diego for the all-star game, removed any questions about the outcome before a crowd of 47,747 on an idyllic afternoon with his 23rd homer, which opened up a 5-0 lead. The reigning MVP became only the sixth player in AL history with 80 runs and 20 homers prior to the all-star break. So he continues to be rather good at baseball.
Michael Saunders added an RBI single in the eighth.
The damage came without big-league RBI leader and fellow all-star Edwin Encarnacion, who dropped the appeal of his one-game suspension for bumping umpire Vic Carapazza and served the punishment, setting himself up for the post-break sprint to the finish.
“I’d say we’re certainly in a better position now than we have been in the past,” said Dickey. “The thing that is so encouraging to me is (Jose) Bautista is not with us and Edwin (Encarnacion) wasn’t in there today, and so the streak that we’re in right now and the way we’ve been playing doesn’t feel flukish, it feels like this can be a sustained thing for this team.
“That’s something that sometimes has felt different from past teams that I’ve been on here in Toronto. I think everybody expects streaks and games like the one we played (Sunday) and it’s just been a matter of time for it to click in unison. That’s what you’re seeing.”
Saunders, Aaron Sanchez and the injured Marco Estrada are the club’s other all-stars won’t have far to travel when the Blue Jays season resumes Friday in Oakland, where they’ll have three games versus the Athletics before heading to Arizona for a pair with the Diamondbacks.
In the meanwhile, trade talk will pick up as the Blue Jays look to bolster themselves for the homestretch. Already the Boston Red Sox, holders of the other wildcard, moved Friday to acquire reliever Brad Ziegler from Arizona for a pair of prospects, after learning that closer Craig Kimbrel required knee surgery.
Estrada is expected to come off the disabled list at some point during the home series versus the Seattle Mariners July 22-24, with slugger Bautista possibly back from turf toe at the beginning of August. Both will bolster the Blue Jays roster, but with the possibility of Aaron Sanchez moving to the bullpen (the recent woes of Noah Syndergaard offer a cautionary tale) and Estrada’s back already requiring cortisone shots twice this year, adding another starter makes sense.
Even with the Blue Jays farm system depleted by last summer’s deadline buildup, they still have the pieces to make a move or two in the coming weeks without inflicting long-term damage.
“Overall as team I feel like we’re playing better,” Donaldson said when comparing the 2015 team at the break to this year’s club. “Last year we swung the bats really well early on in the season and we didn’t have the formula, we were swinging it and we weren’t pitching, or we were pitching and we weren’t swinging it. This year it’s been a little bit of a roller-coaster at times but for the most part we’ve been playing pretty well. It starts with our starting pitching, they’ve been phenomenal up to this point. Hopefully we’ll get Marco back healthy, Dickey continues to go out there and do his thing, Sanchie, (Marcus) Stroman. The fact of the matter is we feel pretty good about where we’re at right now.”
Deservedly so, as the way they’ve performed to this point, not to mention their place in the standings, shows they merit further investment.