Offensive outburst gives Blue Jays sweep over Mariners

SEATTLE — This is the kind of game the Toronto Blue Jays have been searching for all season.

They built an early lead, got big swings from a couple power bats and kept adding insurance runs as the game progressed. 

It added up to a 9-1 win at T-Mobile Park Sunday, leading to a sweep of the Mariners, a successful 4-2 West Coast road trip and a return to .500 at 20-20. For a team that’s played one close game after another, this was a much-needed release – and a long-overdue reminder of how fun it is to win comfortably once in a while.

“This is a very resilient team,” said outfielder George Springer. “It's a very close-knit team. Obviously there’s still a long way to go, but to come back and fight, score a lot of runs and take a series here against a team that's probably been the hottest in the whole league is huge.”

Better still, the Blue Jays pulled this off on a bullpen day with starters Daulton Varsho and Anthony Santander resting their respective shoulders on the bench. And thanks to the offence’s best output of the season, their overworked bullpen could finally breathe a little.

“Just a really, really good effort from everyone,” said manager John Schneider. “Momentum is a funny thing sometimes. The guys really swung the bat well today, probably the best we’ve swung it all year. A really good way to bounce back.”

“I’m just thrilled with the effort and the execution,” he added.

If it feels like the Blue Jays have been waiting for this for a while, well, it’s true. Before Sunday, every one of their wins since April 8 had been by a margin of three runs or fewer. That’s a long time to stress over every single win, and while the bullpen has generally been up to the challenge on Sunday they didn’t have to be, since the Blue Jays won by their biggest margin of victory so far this season.

“I loved it,” Schneider said. “You always prepare for a close game, but when everyone does their job and you swing the bat like that, it’s really nice.”

Jose Urena started the game with two-plus innings of one-run ball and Braydon Fisher finished it with a scoreless ninth for a successful major-league debut. In between, left-hander Eric Lauer stepped up with 4.2 innings of scoreless relief work, striking out five.

"Good fastball and just good composure," Schneider said of Lauer. "He mixed well, located really well … he was under control the whole time.”

But the difference in this one was the offence. In the fifth inning, Springer delivered the game’s biggest hit, crushing a poorly located Bryce Miller fastball into the second deck in left field for a three-run home run that broke the game open.

From the No. 3 spot in the batting order, Addison Barger continued his big weekend by sending an opposite-field home run over the right field wall.

“He’s been hitting the ball extremely hard,” Springer said. “He delivers. He’s a big, strong dude and when he hits the ball well, it’s loud and hard. I think he’s been great.”

Barger also walked and singled while starting in the top third of the lineup for the first time in the big-leagues.

There were also contributions from the bottom of the order, as Nathan Lukes and Ernie Clement each put together three-hit days. Meanwhile, No. 9 hitter Jonatan Clase drove in two with a double that put the game further out of reach.

As Schneider said: "We just kept swinging."

Barger was hitting third because both Varsho and Santander were resting their shoulders. It was just a couple weeks ago that Varsho returned from off-season surgery on his right shoulder, while Santander hit his left shoulder while attempting a catch at Angel Stadium Thursday and hasn’t played since.

With an off-day scheduled Monday, both Varsho and Santander will get an extra break before the Blue Jays host the Rays in Toronto starting Tuesday. On a related note, catcher Alejandro Kirk left the game early after sustaining a head contusion on a Julio Rodriguez backswing to the head in the third inning.

While he initially stayed in the game and hit a double to left field, Kirk eventually gave way to backup Tyler Heineman as a precaution. The backswing got Kirk near his left ear, and the Blue Jays will monitor the area ahead of their next series.

With a season-high four-game win streak in place, the Blue Jays are as well positioned as they have been for a while. There's lots of work ahead, of course, and no one seeks or awards medals for playing .500 baseball, but there's a lot to be said for resting leverage relievers and building a little momentum at the plate.

On Sunday, for the first time in a while, the Blue Jays accomplished both goals.

“I love this team and I love the guys in the locker room,” Springer said. “It’s  just been about doing something every day to help the team win. It doesn’t have to be a hit, even though everyone likes hits. It could be a walk, a hit by pitch or scoring a run. I don’t care. I’m trying to do anything I can and have some fun with the boys in the process.”