BOSTON, Mass. – The Blue Jays got themselves a win in Boston, with Adam Lind playing hero, belting a massive home run to deep centerfield, breaking a tie in the ninth inning. Here are three other things that stood out to me about the victory at Fenway:
BIG, BAD BUEHRLE
Blue Jays fans have been waiting for Mark Buehrle to deliver a big-time start this season, and the veteran came through for them in a huge way on Saturday afternoon.
Buehrle pitched ahead, hit his spots, and didn’t make those one or two big mistakes that have plagued him in his prior starts. The lefty took a shutout into the eighth inning, leaving after issuing a leadoff walk to ninth-place hitter Dave Ross. He wound up allowing a run on five hits, walking two and striking out five, retiring 13 in a row at one point. Buehrle got a no-decision because of the blown save behind him.
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Only six weeks into the season, Buehrle is the last man standing in the Blue Jays’ rotation — R.A. Dickey has been fighting a tight neck, back and shoulder, Brandon Morrow had to miss at least one start with back issues, Josh Johnson and J.A. Happ are on the disabled list and Ricky Romero is down in Buffalo. Chad Jenkins has been called up to start Sunday’s series finale, after having had just one minor-league start to rehab his strained lat muscle.
With the rotation once again in shambles, the Blue Jays needed a strong start from Buehrle, and they got way more than they could have expected.
LINE-UP SHAKE-UP
John Gibbons continued to do everything in his power to get his struggling ballclub going. He’s been searching for a leadoff hitter since Jose Reyes went down with a severe ankle sprain, having used Emilio Bonifacio, Rajai Davis, Munenori Kawasaki and Brett Lawrie at the top of the line-up with limited success.
Saturday, Gibbons decided not to even bother looking for a leadoff man, and instead just pushed everybody up a spot. That meant Melky Cabrera hit first, Jose Bautista second and Edwin Encarnacion third.
It was definitely an interesting look, bringing the Blue Jays’ best hitters to the plate as often as possible, and it factored into the first run the Jays scored, as Cabrera came to the plate with two out and a man on second in the third inning — instead of Kawasaki or a struggling Lawrie — and singled to left to drive the run in.
It was the only hit Cabrera would get, which was one more than Encarnacion. Bautista went 2-for-3 with a walk out of the two-hole.
CASEY JANSSEN IS REALLY GOOD
With the Lind homer having given the Blue Jays the lead back in the top of the ninth, Janssen came sprinting out of the bullpen to lock it down. A perfect inning would have given Janssen even more than a perfect game — he had retired the last 25 hitters he had faced, a streak that stretched over nine appearances.
That streak ended two outs short of virtual combined perfection, though, as Janssen gave up a leadoff double to Will Middlebrooks. It was a line drive to shallow left that Cabrera decided to gamble for with a dive. The gamble lost, and the ball skipped by Cabrera to give Middlebrooks the extra base.
That was the first hit that a right-handed batter has managed to get off Janssen this season – they’d been 0-for-18 to that point. Unfazed, Janssen broke the bats of Stephen Drew and pinch-hitter Daniel Nava, getting weak little loopers from both of them, then retired Jacoby Ellsbury on a little nothing dribbler that didn’t even make it to the mound to end the ballgame.
Janssen has been a perfect closer for the Blue Jays this season, having saved 10 of their 14 wins in 10 opportunities. Since he took over the job from Francisco Cordero just over a year ago, he’s converted 32 of 34 save chances and has finally given Jays fans a reason to feel confident with a lead in the ninth.