TORONTO – The most important point of separation between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Baltimore Orioles right now isn’t the half-game they’re apart in the standings, but rather the gaping chasm in the earned-run average of their starters.
Over the course of 162 games, advantage rests with the team that has the better rotation, and that’s certainly held true through the first two games of this weekend series at Rogers Centre. J.A. Happ delivered a dominant seven innings of one-run ball while a shaky Yovani Gallardo came undone in the fifth inning of a 9-1 Blue Jays romp Saturday. The defending American League East champions moved a half-game ahead of the Orioles for the division lead, as a crowd of 47,305 celebrated.
“It means we’re playing good baseball,” catcher Russell Martin, who ripped a two-run double in the pivotal fifth, said of taking over top spot in the East. “There’s still a lot of baseball left, but I feel like we’re starting to play good ball, we’re swinging the bats well, playing good defence and we’re pitching well. But what I like about this team is the consistency of our starting pitching. I feel like it’s been that way all year and if you want to be on a winning team, that’s one of the main things you want to have.
“We have that, so we’re feeling pretty good about it.”
Happ is one of the reasons the Blue Jays began the day with the second-best starters’ ERA in the AL at 3.75, and drove that number down to 3.72. The left-hander – who’s allowed three runs or less in 17 of his 21 outings this season – gave up just the one run on three hits and three walks with 11 strikeouts.
The Orioles, meanwhile, began the day 13th in the AL at 4.98 and the ERA crept up to 5.02 after Gallardo allowed five runs in 4.1 innings of dodgy work. That team total includes the 3.47 ERA over 132.1 innings delivered by ace Chris Tillman, and man would they be knee-deep in doo-doo if not for him.
“Our starting pitching has been so good this season, and when your starting pitching is good like that you know you can go in and win every game,” said Kevin Pillar, who hit a pair of two-out, two-run doubles. “One through five, we feel like we have a really good chance of winning. Days like today are perfect. (Happ) keeps us in that game … he keeps putting zeroes up, and that’s what makes our offence so tough. Even against a good pitcher who was on, we kind of wear him down, wear him down, he makes a mistake, walks some guys and we come up with some big hits.”
Tillman will try to keep the Orioles from suffering a sweep when he starts against Aaron Sanchez in Sunday’s series finale. While it’s clear they need to add a starter before Monday’s non-waiver trade deadline – Ubaldo Jimenez is still getting the ball, for crying out loud – they may not have the prospect capital to make it happen.
The Blue Jays, who continue to look at both starters and relievers, are better off but are in a similar boat in that regard, as they have some prospects of interest to other clubs, but aren’t necessarily their first port of call. The Washington Nationals’ acquisition of closer Mark Melancon from the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday afternoon may help further spur the trade market, and prices are sure to come down the closer things get to 4 p.m. ET Monday.
Whether or not they add more, the Blue Jays have good reason to feel better about their roster than the Orioles. There was certainly a strong pennant race vibe at a raucous Rogers Centre.
“This is what we’ve been waiting for,” Happ said. “To start to experience that, playing the Orioles now with the huge series here, that’s as fun as it gets right there.”
Happ fell behind first when Pedro Alvarez fished for a curveball and jacked it over the wall in right with two out in the second. But he firmly shut the door from that point onwards, without allowing even a hint of a rally.
“You’re not always going to get nine runs so (good starting pitching) just keeps the team in the ballgame, you never know late what can happen – it’s one swing with these guys,” said Happ. “We’re trying as hard as we can to keep the game close and we’ve just got to leave it up to our guys, more often than not they’re getting it done.”
Gallardo, meanwhile, was fortunate to escape a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the first unscathed but wasn’t as lucky in the decisive fifth.
Devon Travis started the rally with a solo shot that tied things 1-1, Jose Bautista and Josh Donaldson walked before an Edwin Encarnacion RBI double gave the Blue Jays the lead. Orioles manager Buck Showalter then had Michael Saunders intentionally walked to load the bases and brought in Mychal Givens to face Troy Tulowitzki, who just held on a 3-2 check swing for an RBI walk.
“It’s an aggressive move by the manager, he’s trying to get the double play, get two outs with one pitch, he has a guy on the mound he feels he can trust that throw strikes for the most part,” said Martin. “Tulo put up a tough at-bat and laid off a tough slider 3-2. Then I was able to get a double. It backfired but you can always look back and judge somebody after the fact. Sometimes you make a call and it works, sometimes it doesn’t. We were able to put some good at-bats together and get some runs.”
Two-run doubles by Martin – who guess right on a first-pitch breaking ball – and Pillar capped the outburst. And while nothing should be taken granted against an offence as powerful as the Orioles’, the game was effectively over at that point. Pillar added another two-run double in the seventh for good measure.
“Fortunately we cracked through there and then opened up,” said manager John Gibbons. “Happ, I don’t think you can say enough good things, not only today, but what he’s been doing all year. Really, a dominating outing.”
Happ left to a standing ovation after allowing a leadoff single to J.J. Hardy in the eighth, and Joe Biagini allowed a pair of dinky base hits to load the bases with none out. But he recovered to make a nice shovel play on Jonathon Schoop’s weak dribbler for the first out and got Manny Machado on a weak fly ball to centre for the second out. Brett Cecil then came on for Chris Davis and got the slugger swinging.
Jesse Chavez mopped up in the ninth as the Blue Jays moved into sole possession of first place for the first time since they started the season 2-0. If the disparity in starting pitching remains as wide as it currently it is, they’ll have a pretty good chance to stay there, too.