ATLANTA – Whenever David Price pitches, the Toronto Blue Jays are awfully hard to beat.
Price provided the Blue Jays with seven strong innings Wednesday, allowing just one earned run while striking out nine Atlanta Braves. The resulting 9-1 win in front of 15,178 at Turner Field ended Toronto’s two-game losing streak and preserved a 3.0 game lead in the AL East.
Even on a day that Price struggled with command at times, he shut the Braves down convincingly.
“He did what we brought him over here for again,” manager John Gibbons said. “He’s been great.”
Price laboured early before finishing strong with at least one strikeout in each of his final six innings.
“He kicked it in pretty good and battled,” Gibbons said. “I don’t think it was as easy an outing as he made it look.”
Performances like these should place Price firmly in the American League Cy Young conversation. The left-hander leads the AL with a 2.42 ERA and ranks among the league leaders with 208.1 innings and 212 strikeouts on the season. Dallas Keuchel, the apparent front-runner for the award, allowed nine runs Wednesday, closing the gap between him and other contenders such as Price, Sonny Gray and Chris Archer.
More importantly for the Blue Jays, Price has dominated since being acquired from the Detroit Tigers, transforming Toronto’s rotation. In nine starts with the Blue Jays, Price has a 2.17 ERA in 62.1 innings with 74 strikeouts.
Download it now: iOS | Android | Windows
He’s tentatively slated to make three more regular-season starts, and would be positioned to start games one and five of the ALDS should the Blue Jays win the division. There are no guarantees of getting that far, but the possibility is likely enough to make rival lineups uncomfortable.
Edwin Encarnacion made an immediate impact in his return to the lineup after missing two games with finger soreness. He singled three times and walked twice, extending his streak of consecutive games reaching base to 43 while raising his season OPS to .915.
“That’s what he does to our team. That one extra big bat and he’s been hot,” Gibbons said. “He’s as important as anybody out there.”
The pain may linger throughout the remainder of the season, which means the Blue Jays will have to balance the need for rest with the temptation to use Encarnacion regularly.
“I’ve got to deal with that. I’ve got to do the best I can,” Encarnacion said. “After we win the World Series I’ll be better.”
Russell Martin also contributed to Toronto’s 12-hit effort with a double and a home run, his 20th of the season. Round numbers may please the eye, but Martin’s not reading much into the milestone.
“It means I have 20 home runs, man,” he said. “I just feel like as I get older I just get a little stronger and smarter at the plate, pick my times when to go for it. But it’s definitely a nice number to see out there on the scoreboard.”
The Blue Jays became the first MLB team to score 800 runs, a threshold no club reached in 2014. So far Price has benefitted from more than his share of offence.
“Bringer of runs? I’d definitely welcome that nickname,” he said. “Everybody knows it’s the best offence in all of baseball. I’ll take as many runs as I can get.”
On defence, Ryan Goins continued to impress. Playing on the home field of Andrelton Simmons, Goins made a pair of standout plays while Simmons, who’s widely regarded as the best defensive shortstop in baseball, made two errors. Goins made a spectacular play in the hole before turning an unusual but impressive 4-6-5 double play to help Price escape a shaky fifth inning.
“A bunch of really good defensive plays tonight with Go-go,” said Price, who was particularly impressed with the play in the hole. “That’s got to be the best play of the day in baseball, so I’ll definitely be looking for that one later.”
That kind of defensive effort helped Price work his way out of trouble.
“When he needed to make that pitch, he’d always find a way to get that pitch,” Martin said. “With some good defence behind him, that combination is deadly, especially when you’re getting some run support.”
The Blue Jays didn’t gain any ground on the New York Yankees, who also won Wednesday. But Toronto’s now within 2.0 games of the Kansas City Royals for the best record in the American League and home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Wednesday’s win also prevented the Blue Jays from dropping three in a row for the first time since July 8-10. With Marco Estrada set to take the mound Thursday, the Blue Jays have the chance to finish an already strong road trip with another series win.
And if they allow themselves to look a little further ahead, the prospect of Price in the playoffs surely looks good, too.