CHICAGO – The ability to score runs cures so many ills, allowing baseball teams to overcome mistakes and mask shortcomings.
Case in point was the Toronto Blue Jays’ pressure-easing 6-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday night, when a few plays not made in the sixth helped them blow a three-run lead before they restored their advantage with a three-run rally of their own in the seventh.
Melky Cabrera’s two-run double and Jose Bautista’s RBI single provided the ideal response for the Blue Jays (64-60), who had lost four straight and 10-of-13 coming in, and sorely needed to beat a 58-65 White Sox club they should be eating for lunch.
While things probably needn’t have been as tight as they were, having an offence that can reply in such fashion provides a margin for error the Blue Jays need right now with the way they’re playing.
“That’s the thing,” manager John Gibbons said of the way his team answered in the seventh. “Emotions change when you cough up a lead, but you’ve got to bounce right back.
“We’ve got the lineup to do it.”
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The trouble began in the sixth when Mark Buehrle, up 3-0 and having largely cruised through five in his first start back at U.S. Cellular Field since leaving the White Sox as a free agent after the 2011 season, surrendered a leadoff single to Alexei Ramirez.
Gordon Beckham followed with a smash to Jose Bautista at first, and he cleverly relayed to Jose Reyes for the lead out at second base. Reyes was ready to throw to first to try and turn two, but Buehrle, a four-time Gold Glover, signalled no-throw because he felt there was no chance for another out.
Avisail Garcia followed with a drive to right field that a leaping Nolan Reimold couldn’t grab against the wall which knocked in a run and ended Buehrle’s night.
Dustin McGowan took over with men on first and second and they promptly advanced on a wild pitch that was poorly played by Dioner Navarro. Dayan Viciedo then hit a sacrifice fly to score one run and Paul Konerko snuck a grounder into left field to knot the game up.
“It was supposed to be a sinker and he threw it low and I couldn’t come up with it,” Navarro said of the wild pitch.
The way things had been going for the Blue Jays, that would have been good night, but Munenori Kawasaki led off the seventh with a dinky infield squib that went for a single and a Jose Reyes chopper hopped down the first-base line into right field to set the stage for Cabrera and Bautista.
“Once they tied it, it could have taken the wind out of our sail, and kind of given up, but we came right back and scored three,” said Buehrle. “There were a couple of balls that bounced our way and good things that happened for us, so hopefully it carries over.
“We’ve got some guys, Edwin [Encarnacion] just came back, hopefully he can be a big lift for us.”
Some strong relief work by Brett Cecil, Aaron Sanchez, who went 1.2 innings, and Casey Janssen, who handled the ninth for his 19th save, brought home their first victory since last Sunday’s 19-inning marathon against Detroit.
“For the most part I felt fine,” said Sanchez after making back-to-back appearances for the first time. “I didn’t know I was going in, but I knew I was hot depending on how the game went. You get on a big-league mound and the adrenaline kicks in, all that kind of gets out of the way. I feel fine now so on to the next game.”
Buehrle deserved a better fate in his return to Chicago, where an announced crowd of 29,420 cheered him as he went to the bullpen to warm up, again when he took the mound in the first – in a classy move his teammates delayed taking the field to give him his moment – and once more when John Gibbons pulled him in the sixth.
As fans stood and cheered, Buehrle raised his arms up in salute.
“I had a little more nerves and a little more emotions going than I originally thought I was going to,” said Buehrle. “Coming out of the dugout, running out, the fans started chanting and going crazy, I just tried to focus and realize what I had to do. The reception I got, I was thinking it would be kind of good, but what they did, every time I ran out I’d hear people cheering, it was exceptional.
“I actually texted Konerko and apologized and said, ‘Hey, I hope no one is pissed on the team that I tipped my hat walking off the field,’ because I don’t know what the rule is as far as being a visitor and tipping your hat, but I didn’t want to piss off anyone on the other team, but at the same time, the reaction I was getting from the crowd, it felt right.”
The outing was a good recovery for Buehrle, who had failed to go more than five innings in consecutive starts for the first time in his career in his previous two outings. The ovations might have provided him with a boost.
“It didn’t hurt, but my last few starts I’d been feeling good,” said Buehrle. “Obviously the velocity was up a little bit, the guys were kind of busting my balls, saying I hit 85, 86, 87 a lot more tonight than I have in the past, hopefully this gets me going again.”
Navarro was impressed with what he saw.
“I don’t know where that’s been – he was throwing the crap out of the ball,” he said. “I guess a little excitement facing your old team and facing a lot of former teammates, coming from experience when you play your former team you want to do a little extra, he threw the ball well and gave us a shot.”
The Blue Jays gave Buehrle an early lead on Navarro’s sacrifice fly and Nolan Reimold’s two-out RBI single in the second, and they tacked on another in the fifth when Reyes knocked in Colby Rasmus, who had doubled.
For a change it didn’t stop there, and that helped set the Blue Jays right.