TORONTO — Remember back in April when the Toronto Blue Jays were sitting 29th in baseball in home runs? Every run the opposition scored felt like a touchdown, and if they managed to string a few together, the game felt like it was over.
Such is life without the threat of the long ball. But thankfully for the Blue Jays, they’re not living that way anymore.
Home runs can erase deficits in an instant, and the Blue Jays relied on that in an 8-7 victory over the Athletics on Saturday at Rogers Centre. George Springer launched two homers while Addison Barger and Bo Bichette also went deep to ignite the crowd of 38,017. Jeff Hoffman allowed a two-run homer in the ninth before closing the door for his 13th save of the season.
“(Home runs) can kind of make leads smaller,” Springer said.
The joy from the Blue Jays’ fourth-straight win was tempered, though, with centre-fielder Daulton Varsho removed from the game with a hamstring injury after clutching his left leg and falling to the ground while running to third base in the third inning. Blue Jays manager John Schneider said following the game that Varsho was undergoing an MRI that would reveal the extent of damage.
The Blue Jays and the Athletics spent the first few innings trading leads on Saturday. Tyler Soderstrom hit a three-run homer in the first inning off Blue Jays’ opener Braydon Fisher, and then Barger answered in the bottom half with a two-run shot before Nathan Lukes drove in two runs with a single up the middle.
The next inning, Toronto native Denzel Clarke launched his first major-league home run, a two-run job that helped the A’s stake a 5-4 lead, but Bichette responded with his own solo shot, the 100th of his career.
Before long, Springer had blasted two first-pitch solo homers — at 107 and 108.7 m.p.h. — and the Blue Jays’ firepower once again proved too much for the A’s, who also got a Brent Rooker two-run shot in the ninth that made it close.
“When Georgie's good, he is aggressive,” Schneider said. “He's forcing the issue a little bit and not letting the pitcher dictate what's going on.”
The Blue Jays have hit 10 homers and scored 31 runs in three games against the Athletics, with the series finale remaining on Sunday. While, of course, it would be easy to point out that the A’s are a last-place team and the Blue Jays are feasting on a fragile pitching staff, the reality is that the offence has looked different in May than it did earlier in the season.
Consider these monthly stats as the calendar flips to June. Entering Saturday’s play — and not including the latest offensive outburst — it shows a tale of two seasons for the Blue Jays’ offence.
“Pretty damn good,” replied Schneider when asked to evaluate his offence’s work during May. “I talk about baserunning a lot and that's something we're continuing to focus on — that's taking strides in the right direction. But from where we were in April to where we were in May, it's been a dramatic improvement. And it's been really from everyone.”
The contributions have ranged from up and down the lineup. For example, Ernie Clement (1.2), Barger (1.1) and Alejandro Kirk (1.1) led the team in May WAR; Bichette hit all seven of his homers during the month; and Lukes has been a pleasant surprise. Overall, they’ve helped the club to a 16-12 record in May, compared to a 14-16 record in March and April.
Easton Lucas tossed 4.2 scoreless innings in relief of Fisher to earn the win on Saturday and said he’s noticed a change in the offence since he last pitched for the club in mid-April, before a demotion to triple-A.
“They're crushing the ball,” Lucas said. “It's incredible to watch. I mean, Ernie is just hitting everything he sees. George's crushing it. It's awesome to see.
“I think they're really putting it together right now.”
Added Springer: “We're stringing innings together. We're stringing at-bats together. I always feel even if we're down, that lead’s not insurmountable, which is a good place to be in.”
Anthony Santander was signed to provide a hefty bat in the middle of the order and he struggled mightily before landing on the injured list on Friday. If Varsho — who hit eight homers in just 24 games since returning from a shoulder injury — is out for an extended period, that will require the Blue Jays to continue to rely on production from across the lineup.
“It sucks,” said Springer of watching his close friend writhing in pain Saturday. “I've been in that position before. I know what's going on in his head. To lose a guy like him, you know, he's so valuable to us, the stuff he can do."
“Your heart hurts for him,” added Springer. “But he'll be okay eventually. And hopefully he can just get back as quick as he can.”
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