The Toronto Blue Jays will undoubtedly win their share of blowouts this year. After all, their high-powered lineup includes two of baseball’s top right-handed bats in Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion.
But the Blue Jays extended their winning streak to five games Saturday by showing that they’re capable of winning with speed as well as power. And for the Blue Jays to sustain a run of success that has them leading the American League East with a 28-22 record, they’ll need to be capable of winning close games.
“You know the old saying,” manager John Gibbons said. “Speed never goes in slumps.”
Leadoff hitter Jose Reyes and number nine hitter Anthony Gose combined to score four of the Blue Jays’ five runs in front of 29,372 fans as the Rogers Centre dome opened for the first time this season. They put constant pressure on the Oakland Athletics, contributing to some sloppy defence.
“That’s the game that I play,” Reyes said. “Stealing bases, sliding all over the place. When I’m pain-free I’m able to do that kind of stuff.”
R.A. Dickey turned in what was arguably his best start of the season, holding the Athletics to just two runs over 8.1 innings as the Blue Jays beat the American League West leaders for the second consecutive day. The knuckleballer’s outing provided relief for a team that’s had to rely on its bullpen extensively throughout the first 50 games of the season.
“He was dealing. He was really was. He was strong, and very efficient,” Gibbons said. “That particular pitch he throws, when it’s on it’s tough to do anything with it.”
Dickey lowered his season ERA to 3.95 with the outing, pitching into the ninth inning for the first time in 2014. He walked just one batter and kept inducing weak contact late into the game, two positive signs for the 39-year-old.
Meanwhile, a Blue Jays lineup that leads MLB in home runs relied on speed rather than power to back Dickey on the way to a 5-2 victory. The speed of Reyes and Gose was on full display in the fifth inning, after they both reached on singles. Melky Cabrera hit a routine ground ball to first base and Gose scored from third as Athletics first baseman Brandon Moss bobbled the ball. That was all the prompting Reyes needed to head home and give the Blue Jays a 4-1 lead.
“Reyes has been around the game for a long time, and he has always done that,” Gibbons said. “Gose is on his way up, trying to make a name for himself. That’s what he does.”
Reyes showed similar aggressiveness two innings later, scoring all the way from second base on another Cabrera ground ball. Similar aggressiveness from Gose got the Blue Jays on the scoreboard in the third inning, when Oakland left fielder Craig Gentry mis-played a ball, and Gose came all the way home to score.
“I just want to contribute in any way,” said Gose, who said he’s physically fine after crashing into the centre field wall in pursuit of a Yoenis Cespedes triple. “Offensively or defensively. It makes you feel good to help the team and I’d rather help them than hurt them.”
Dickey certainly appreciated the effort from Reyes and Gose.
“It becomes a real fun thing, like you’re kids and you’re running around sliding in the dirt everywhere,” Dickey said. “The guys love it.”
That’s not to say that the Blue Jays didn’t enjoy the benefit of the long ball. Brett Lawrie’s eighth home run of the season gave the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead that they would not relinquish on the way to their 15th win in the last 20 games.
The Blue Jays are playing at a 91-win clip after Saturday’s win, and have assured themselves of another series win and another day in first place. They’re delivering their best baseball of the season. While the five-game win streak will undoubtedly end, the Blue Jays will have a much easier time staying in contention if their speed can continue keeping the offence going on days that power bats like Bautista and Encarnacion are quiet.
Gibbons summed the effort up with the favourite phrase of Kansas City Royals outfielder Jarrod Dyson: “That’s what speed do.”
