In what was arguably their biggest series in years, and definitely their most important of the 2015 season, things couldn’t have gone better for the Toronto Blue Jays.
By sweeping the Yankees they are now only 1.5 games back from the AL East division lead, a perch that seemed like an unrealistic goal a week ago.
With 10 games remaining between the two squads there is plenty of time for the Blue Jays to gain ground, or for the Yankees to build their lead, but for now Toronto has the momentum and looks like the better team.
Here are five takeaways from the series sweep:
The Yankees have not figured out David Price: The reality is that Price is too good a pitcher for any team to “figure out.” Although there were some concerns about the sub-standard results he had against the Bronx Bombers entering the series, he was not concerned and for good reason.
The composition of teams changes all the time, making it very difficult to say a player is good against a particular team with any kind of confidence. Most player vs. team numbers are more statistical noise than anything else. There is no magic formula for hitting a pitcher of Price’s calibre and the Yankees showed that by failing to score against him in seven innings on Saturday.
Roberto Osuna can officially be trusted in big situations: There was no reason to doubt Osuna entering this series, but it was worth wondering how the 20-year-old might respond in the biggest games of the year.
Osuna left no room for doubt in the series, retiring all six batters he faced and picking up two saves. He may be young and inexperienced, but there’s no reason to believe he will fold under the intense pressure of a playoff push.
All runs are created equal: There’s a perception that the Blue Jays need to focus on “small ball” and manufacturing runs if they want to win close games against tough opponents. Those things have their place, but the idea that the Blue Jays won’t be able to lean on their power in meaningful games is a myth.
The team got nine of their 10 runs in the series via the long ball and all three games were close hard-fought contests. It doesn’t make sense to prioritize one form of offence in a particular type of game when there’s more than one way to get the job done. After all, there’s no wrong way to score runs. Going deep is what the Blue Jays do best.
R.A. Dickey is getting stronger as the season goes on: Dickey has been outstanding of late, and he held down a very productive Yankees lineup on Friday night to the tune of one run over seven innings.
Since the All-Star break the knuckleballer has a 0.99 ERA and he’s cut down on his walks while throwing his signature pitch significantly harder. The 40-year-old’s knuckleball has picked up velocity every month this season.
The Blue Jays will need timelier hitting next time: While the team should be commended for a big series sweep over the division-leading Yankees, there are 10 contests remaining between the two squads.
Realistically the Blue Jays can’t expect the type of pitching they got in this sweep. Next time they play New York they almost certainly will need more than 10 runs in the series and that starts with hitting with runners in scoring position. That hasn’t been a big problem for the Blue Jays this season, but on the weekend they were an ugly two-for-17.
