BOSTON – This early in the season, managers are typically content with five innings from their starting pitchers. Spring was short, workloads are managed carefully and bullpens are bigger than ever. Anything beyond the sixth inning is a bonus. Expecting eight? Not likely. Nine? Literally hasn’t happened in MLB this year.
Yet on Thursday afternoon at Fenway Park, Kevin Gausman took the mound in the ninth inning to at least try for a complete game. One pitch and one single later, he gave way to closer Jordan Romano, but not before delivering the best pitching performance of the Blue Jays’ season and one of the best starts of his career.
“It’s funny, I was joking with the guys, If you’re still in the game when they’re singing Sweet Caroline in the eighth inning, you’ve done something right,” Gausman said afterwards. “It’s just such a special place with the history. Fenway is just in its own category.”
Gausman attacked Boston’s hitters from start to finish Thursday, allowing only seven singles over the course of eight-plus innings of one-run ball. The result: a 3-2 Blue Jays win that Romano saved despite allowing the potential tying run to reach third.
The Blue Jays were open to the possibility of a complete game, but they didn’t want to ask Romano to come in with two runners on, so Gausman exited after 88 pitches. Ideally, he would have liked to keep pitching, but he understood the decision manager Charlie Montoyo made.
“In my mind, that was my game,” Gausman said. “I was going out there to get three outs. That was my goal … I would have loved to stay in there and that was my mindset, but I also understand we have really good guys in the bullpen that are itching to get the ball in that spot.”
It’s the first of two consecutive starts against the Red Sox for Gausman, who’s certainly no stranger to the AL East after pitching for the Orioles from 2013-18. Yet back then, he was a traditional starter with a good splitter. Now, he's content to let his breaking pitches take centre stage, as he did on Thursday when exactly half of his pitches were either splitters or sliders.
“He was awesome,” Montoyo said. “That’s an ace for you. It’s a good hitting lineup. His split was nasty and he was locating all of his pitches for strikes.”
The combination was more than the Red Sox could handle. They were off-balance all afternoon, striking out eight times against Gausman without drawing a single walk.
Thanks to Gausman’s strong outing, the Blue Jays secured a series win in their first meeting with the 2022 Red Sox, who will be visiting Toronto next week for a series that will feature Gausman but not Boston’s Tanner Houck, who’s choosing to remain unvaccinated instead of crossing the border with his team.
So far this season, the Blue Jays have three series wins, along with a four-game split with the Yankees. By no means are they playing up to their full potential – who had Zack Collins batting cleanup this early in the season? Or Gosuke Katoh and Bradley Zimmer rounding out the starting nine? But to be 8-5 without Teoscar Hernandez, Danny Jansen and Hyun-Jin Ryu is encouraging.
For a while, the Blue Jays worried they’d be without another one of their stars. George Springer left Wednesday’s game after taking a 94 m.p.h. fastball off of his right forearm, but X-rays confirmed that he had simply suffered a bad bruise and he was able to pinch-hit and play right field Thursday – an encouraging sign considering his importance to the team.
Offensively, the Blue Jays didn’t manage much against the Red Sox despite multi-hit games from Raimel Tapia, Bo Bichette and Matt Chapman. One Toronto run came on an eminently catchable 43-foot pop-up off Chapman’s bat and another came on a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. sacrifice fly.
The Blue Jays’ first run was more noteworthy because of who scored it. Katoh made the most of his first big-league start, drawing a third-inning walk then scoring the first run of his MLB career on a Tapia single.
When Katoh first joined the Blue Jays, he was a little apprehensive about joining a group that already appeared close-knit. But his locker ended up beside Springer’s and the veteran centre fielder has since made a point of easing the rookie’s transition to the majors on and off the field.
“It’s tough being in the role that I am and being a rookie to fit in,” Katoh said. “But he really went out of his way to let me know that I belonged here. Not just in the big-leagues but in this clubhouse.”
“I was one of those (backup) guys, so I know exactly how he feels.” said Montoyo, who got two hits in his five major-league at-bats. “Me personally, that made my life. I got the baseball. Hopefully he gets many more, but at least if he gets that one it’s just going to make his life a lot better. Like, ‘OK, I made it, I got a base hit.’”
That first big-league hit will have to wait a little longer for Katoh, but there’s no doubt he contributed Thursday nonetheless.
From here, the Blue Jays go to Houston, where a matchup with Justin Verlander awaits Friday night. In other words, more challenges are coming for a Blue Jays team that’s already seen – and overcome – its fair share of them.
“We expect to win every day,” Gausman said. “These young guys come to the ballpark with some attitude, some life and a little cockiness. It’s great. We feel confident in any series we go into.”
