TORONTO – The Toronto Blue Jays can relax a little after Sunday’s 3-0 win over the Boston Red Sox, not only because they avoided a sweep in their first home series of the season, but because the regression some forecasted for Marco Estrada was nowhere to be found.
If anything, Estrada looks just as sharp as he did last year, when he earned Cy Young votes after posting the fifth-best ERA in the American League. He held the Red Sox scoreless over seven innings at Rogers Centre, allowing just five hits while using his devastating changeup to strike out eight batters.
“It was vintage Estrada,” manager John Gibbons said. “It’s early in the season, but we needed a game like that.”
Estrada was making his season debut because back stiffness delayed his spring timeline, so the Blue Jays weren’t about to push him beyond seven innings. The right-hander threw 91 pitches, right in the targeted range of 90-100 established by pitching coach Pete Walker.
Estrada spent most of the 2015 season working with Dioner Navarro, but he said Russell Martin called a good game against the Red Sox, and Gibbons agreed.
“I thought Russ was great with him today,” he said. “Hopefully that erases that question.”
Estrada has a reputation as a fly ball pitcher, and deservedly so, but some air outs are less dangerous than others. The Red Sox hit six infield pop ups against Estrada, a continuation of last year, when he ranked 17th among 78 qualified starters in infield fly rate. It’s not a trend, Estrada can explain, but as Gibbons says “an out’s always valuable.”
Practically speaking, infield pop ups are just about as valuable as strikeouts for pitchers since they nearly always result in outs and don’t advance baserunners. On a day Estrada recorded two thirds of his 21 outs on strikeouts or infield pop ups, the Red Sox had trouble generating hard contact.
Estrada’s performance isn’t the only reason the Blue Jays can breathe a little easier. Josh Donaldson continued producing at the plate, with a single and his fourth home run of the year despite a strained calf.
After a rough day on defence Saturday, the Blue Jays rebounded, supporting Estrada with solid glovework. Ryan Goins, who singled and doubled Sunday, made the best defensive play of the day, cutting down Dustin Pedroia at the plate with a perfect relay throw from shallow right field.
“We executed it perfectly, just like it should be executed. That’s what we do is play great defence,” Goins said. “I think we can be the best defence in this league.”
And after a week that saw the bullpen struggle, Drew Storen and Roberto Osuna combined to shut the Red Sox down for the final two innings. Storen hadn’t looked particularly sharp before Sunday, but the Blue Jays are counting on him to record key outs in a setup role.
“He’s a guy that we need, seventh or eighth inning, to pitch critical innings for this team. His stuff to me looks better than it did in spring training,” Walker said before the game. “He knows what he has to do, it’s just a matter of being more consistent with it.”
Considering that the Blue Jays are now short on left-handed relief options, the seven-inning start came at the right time. At some point, the Blue Jays will look to add a lefty reliever beyond Brett Cecil, but they’re presently short-handed, since Franklin Morales was placed on the disabled list with shoulder fatigue.
The Blue Jays were in position to hand their top relievers the lead thanks to Estrada’s dominant outing. The 32-year-old actually felt a little off Sunday, since he hasn’t fully gained a feel for all of his pitches.
“Things are going to get better,” he said.
That’s been the trend with Estrada for the last calendar year, but the Blue Jays will be thrilled if he can come close to replicating 2015’s success. Sunday’s outing offers even more reason to believe that’s possible.
