The Toronto Blue Jays don’t usually need many runs on days Mark Buehrle pitches, but they needed some extra production Sunday, and Melky Cabrera was up to the challenge and then some.
The switch-hitting left fielder homered in the seventh inning to give the Blue Jays a 6-5 lead over the Texas Rangers, then added a two-run single in the eighth inning to put the game out of reach. Thanks to those well-timed hits, the Blue Jays beat Texas 9-6 and claimed a series win against a team that arrived in Toronto with MLB’s worst record.
Before hitting the home run, Cabrera made a diving catch in left field that earned him “Melky” chants from a crowd of 36,011. A year ago this time, none of this would have seemed particularly realistic. But after a restorative All-Star break, the Blue Jays are seeing plenty of production from the 29-year-old.
“His hand speed and bat speed look a little bit better, and that’s the key to hitting if you’ve got a good swing,” manager John Gibbons said. “If you’re out there every day your whole body gets tired and your hands slow down a little bit and makes it awful tough to hit.”
Dioner Navarro, who had a home run of his own Sunday, says he’s not surprised to see Cabrera producing this way.
“He’s hitting the ball back up the middle,” Navarro said. “This guy is locked in and hopefully he stays like that throughout the whole season.”
A dismal 2013 season saw Cabrera spend time on the disabled list due to leg injuries and a benign tumour. Yet he has rebounded in 2014, becoming a quiet but consistently productive bat for Toronto. Not only does he have 12 home runs, he’s batting .307 with a .354 on-base percentage — precisely the kind of numbers the Blue Jays were hoping for when they signed him to a two-year, $16-million contract before the 2013 season.
“He had his issues last year with his back, but other than that he’s the same player he’s been for the last four, five years,” Gibbons said.
The Blue Jays also needed effective relief pitching on a day that Buehrle scuffled. Thanks to Todd Redmond, Brett Cecil, Casey Janssen and Aaron Loup, they got it.
Janssen, who was unavailable Friday and Saturday due to an illness he picked up after visiting the Dominican Republic over the All-Star break, felt strong enough to return to action Sunday. He allowed one run to score before giving way to Aaron Loup for the final out. The decision to replace Janssen with Loup came down to the fact that the Blue Jays didn’t want to over-expose Janssen so soon after his illness.
“He’s been sick and I just didn’t see that crispness from him out there,” Gibbons said. “You do what’s best for the team. We’re trying to win a game and I don’t play favourites.”
Buehrle got hit hard, allowing five earned runs over six innings with what Gibbons described as unusually erratic command. This kind of outing has been the exception for the left-hander, who has allowed more than four earned runs just one other time this season.
“That’s what he’s been doing,” Navarro said of Buehrle, who now has a 2.86 ERA. “He’s going through a little tough stretch now, but he still gives us a chance.”
While one half of the Blue Jays’ battery struggled, the other half produced. Navarro hit his sixth home run of the season, one of two hits he collected Sunday.
The second half of the season is just getting started for the Blue Jays, who still trail the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East. Still, at least they can take away some positives from Sunday’s win. The bullpen, a weak spot for much of the first half, held down a lead. And, led by Cabrera, the Blue Jays scored plenty of runs at a time that Edwin Encarnacion, Adam Lind and Brett Lawrie remain sidelined.
“It’s been a while since we put together a few wins, but we’re definitely playing well right now,” Loup said.
If the rest of the second half unfolds the way the series against the Rangers did, the Blue Jays will be well-positioned to remain in contention for the long haul.