TORONTO — The way the Toronto Blue Jays took the rubber-match of a three-game set with the Chicago Cubs offered a glimpse of October-style baseball – both on the mound and at the plate, power plays in the post-season.
Max Scherzer, having recently made what he described as a breakthrough with his irksome right thumb, continued to look more like himself over seven innings of one-run ball. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. changed the game with one big swing in the seventh, his 20th homer of the season a go-ahead two-run drive off a strong Matt Boyd. And the bullpen turned up the heat to escape a jam in the eighth and lock things down in the ninth inning, collecting all six outs via strikeout.
All told, the 2-1 win over a fellow post-season contender Thursday afternoon had all the ingredients necessary when the stakes get higher a month-and-a-half from now.
“It's two pitchers making pitches and getting into a rhythm,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “They run the bases really well, too, so it’s guys stranding runners. … There's very, very few things you can take advantage of. … The pitching, the defence and the slug, that is a recipe for deep in the season and the things that come after that, (which) I don’t like talking about. There are a lot of ways to do it, but that's definitely one of them.”
The Blue Jays (71-51) and Cubs (68-52) are well aware that they first must get to October, of course, and to take nothing for granted. But both clubs have been built for games like these, when impact rips and swing-and-miss stuff so often carries the day.
“I went down 1-0 and I just kept telling myself, like, we're not going to lose this game 1-0, I'm not losing this game on a solo shot, somebody is going to come through for us,” said Scherzer, who matched a season-high at seven innings during his fourth straight quality start. “And I kept repeating that in my head and finally Vladdy gets a big pitch to hit and he did his damage. That's the difference in the ballgame, a two-run shot, not a solo shot.”
Scherzer – who after his last outing at the Dodgers said the newfound stability in his thumb is allowing him to “throw all the pitches, from the first pitch to the last pitch and have strength to execute pitches” – did just that against the Cubs.
Spotting pitches to help counterbalance the Cubs’ aggressiveness at the plate, he allowed just five hits and a walk over his seven innings, the only damage against him Michael Busch’s solo shot to open the sixth. That helped keep the game under control with Boyd doing the same opposite him.
Still, once Guerrero put the Blue Jays ahead in the seventh, on a remarkable swing that timed up an 0-2 curveball diving toward the low-and-away corner and sent it over the wall in left-centre after Davis Schneider’s leadoff walk, Scherzer needed help from some big-time stuff in the bullpen.
A Matt Shaw double to open the eighth ended Scherzer’s afternoon – a sellout crowd of 43,270 serenading him as he walked off the field – and brought in Brendon Little to face Busch.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell countered with Seiya Suzuki, who worked a walk to put runners on first and second. After Ian Happ fouled off two bunt attempts, Little unleashed a wild pitch that advanced the runners, but he rallied to punch out the left-fielder and Kyle Tucker immediately after.
“I heard Scherzer talking about it earlier this year, he was saying after you get the first out, don't let up,” Little said of his mindset after getting Happ, whom he was trying to strike out. “You almost have to keep the pressure on yourself to stay in the moment, as opposed to stepping back. So when Tucker came up, it was the same plan, I was looking for a punch out there, trying to not let anything in the air.”
Schneider then turned to Seranthony Dominguez, who got Carson Kelly swinging to end the inning. Jeff Hoffman handled the ninth, striking out the side around a Nico Hoerner single and stolen base.
“I think we have the capability to do that,” said Little. “A lot of our guys have not only nasty stuff, but unique stuff, too. So that was fun, looking forward to doing it again.”
Guerrero, who narrowly missed homer No. 20 in Tuesday’s 4-1 loss, has certainly delivered late in games this season, batting .323/.424/.528 with six homers, eight doubles and 22 RBIs in the seventh inning onwards. He’s also batting .375/.444/.702 with 21 RBIs since the all-star break, his home run in the seventh counting on both fronts.
Demonstrating how locked in he is right now, when asked about getting his barrel to the outer-edge curveball from Boyd, Guerrero said, “to be honest with you, I saw that pitch right down the middle.”
"I start early with my load and when you do that, it's easier to recognize (breaking balls), especially that hanging curveball,” he continued, through interpreter Hector Lebron. “So I connected.”
Schneider was more impressed with the way Guerrero got to the pitch, explaining that “it's timing with him and it just depends on where he catches it.”
“When he's synced up and on time, he allows himself to buy time to do that and that's a good sign,” Schneider continued. “It's a good sign when you see him hit the ball foul to right in the air. And it's a good sign when he can sit back and lift that ball that is where it is in the zone. He's as talented as anyone in the game and when he's synced up, he can do that.”
The Blue Jays have shown the ability to do lots of different things that win games in different ways and on a mid-August afternoon, against one of the top teams the National League has to offer, they did it in a style befitting of October.
