TORONTO – It was just a coincidence that the Toronto Blue Jays’ "Country Day" promotion happened to fall on the same day as a Mark Buehrle start, but the veteran lefty was awfully comfortable in the cowboy hat and down-home music environment, pitching another gem to become the first 10-game winner in the majors this season.
Buehrle didn’t get his characteristic run support – he came into the game leading the American League in that category – but he’s a guy who hasn’t needed much this season. In Buehrle’s 12 starts, he’s allowed more than two runs just three times. Sunday afternoon’s 4-0 win over the Kansas City Royals was the sixth outing in which the veteran lefty has allowed one run or fewer. Buehrle’s eight shutout innings dropped his ERA to 2.10, behind only Masahiro Tanaka in the A.L.
Buehrle kept Kansas City’s hitters off-balance throughout his entire 102-pitch outing, striking out only three but walking just one. He really only gave up two hard-hit balls – an Alcides Escobar double to left-centre leading off the third inning and a line drive by Mike Moustakas leading off the fifth that was caught by Brett Lawrie in short right field.
Buehrle spent most of the game pitching with a slim margin – the Blue Jays scored only twice off Jeremy Guthrie over the first seven innings – but provided 8/9 of the Jays’ eighth shutout of the season, with Aaron Loup delivering a perfect ninth inning to close it out.
There was some key help from the Jays’ defence, as well. The team didn’t provide any big-time highlight plays behind Buehrle, but twice a leadoff double was eliminated at third base one batter later. A Norichika Aoki grounder to second followed Escobar’s two-bagger in the third, and Brett Lawrie made a heads-up play, catching Escobar in a rundown between second and third. In the sixth inning Eric Hosmer led off with a bloop double to shallow centre, but Jose Reyes threw him out at third trying to move up on Billy Butler’s grounder deep in the hole.
The Blue Jays’ improved defence is a huge reason for Buehrle’s uncharacteristic success. Buehrle has always been good but he’s never been THIS good. He’s a contact guy, despite the spike in strikeouts over the early part of this season, and last year he struggled through the first couple months of the season thanks in no small part to the awful infield defence the Blue Jays were throwing out most days. Now, Buehrle puts the ball in play and the gloves behind him have been getting the job done.
Edwin Encarnacion got the month of June off to a strong start; the power-plant first baseman doubled and homered in Sunday’s win, his two-run bomb giving the Blue Jays some breathing room in the bottom of the eighth. He hit 16 homers in May, but the first one didn’t come until the sixth of the month. Could we be in for a bigger and better June? It’s hard to imagine, but Encarnacion is guaranteed to be fun to watch.
It wasn’t entirely positive for the Blue Jays on Sunday though, as Anthony Gose made an error of aggressiveness on the base paths in the fourth. With two out and the Blue Jays leading 2-0, Gose drew a pickoff throw from Royals’ pitcher Jeremy Guthrie that got by Hosmer and rolled towards the seats. Gose then took off and, as Hosmer picked the ball up in foul territory, rounded second and never slowed on his way to third base, where he was dead in the water.
Despite Gose’s incredible speed, there was no way he was going to be safe at third and, with two out, it was highly ill-advised to even make the attempt. Never mind the fact that he didn’t even bother looking at his third-base coach. That’s a mistake from Gose that one hopes never happen again.
But mistake or otherwise, the Blue Jays have bounced back from their pair of losses with a pair of wins and have now won 14 of their last 18 as they head to Detroit for a three-game series against the Tigers.