Springer’s return, pair of Guerrero Jr. homers spark Blue Jays win

Robbie Ray dominated and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had two home runs as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 7-3.

TORONTO – Shortly before 4 p.m. ET, George Springer wrapped up a series of baserunning drills and met Toronto Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo, head trainer Jose Ministral and head strength and conditioning coach Scott Weberg near the pitching mound.

They chatted briefly, smiled, exchanged fist bumps and then picked up GM Ross Atkins, seated inside the dugout, on their way to the clubhouse to finalize the decision: Springer’s sprained left knee was strong enough for the star outfielder to be activated from the injured list.

“I know my body. I know how to handle my body,” he said of the decision. “I don't want to sit on the bench. I want to play. It felt good enough to go and I'm glad to be back out there.”

The tipping point on the club’s end came “when we were comfortable with the risk and what the medical assessment is and understanding from our doctors that he is not putting his knee at more risk from running and from moving forward with the next step,” Atkins, back in the dugout, said shortly afterwards. “More importantly, from his comments and his desire, which we have pushed him very hard on to make sure that he's not masking anything or covering anything up.”

Hours later, Springer looked like his old self, sliding into second base on a double steal with lead runner Jarrod Dyson in the third inning, and later starting the decisive three-run rally with a leadoff single in the sixth inning of a 7-3 victory Monday over the Baltimore Orioles.

Springer scored on Bo Bichette’s game-tying RBI single, a hit that was followed by Teoscar Hernandez’s two-run double, and the star outfielder reached base a third time with a walk in the seventh to set up Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s second homer of the game, a three-run shot.

For a team that over the past two weeks has struggled badly putting up runs and hitting with runners in scoring position – 14-for-107, or .131 in the previous 12 games – it was the type of outburst long in the making.

“We've been grinding a little bit, haven't gotten the results that we would want offensively. But that's the game,” said Springer. “It was a good night after a weird travel day (the Blue Jays flew in Monday afternoon after being stuck in Detroit when their pilot got ill Sunday), but it's good to see contributions up and down the lineup.”

By no means does beating up on the dreadful Orioles cure all that ails the Blue Jays, but any step toward reigniting their dormant offence is essential in fuelling their hopes of charging back into relevance in the chase for the post-season.

Springer, for the time being, will be limited to DH duties as he reacclimates to regular at-bats. The goal is to progressively build up his workload, reps and drills into the outfield eventually translating into defensive innings in the field but “it's the point in the season where we'll take the DH at bats,” said Atkins.

That will certainly help, especially if Springer continues to impact the games the way he did Monday.

Orioles starter Chris Ellis went through the first eight batters unscathed before Dyson worked a two-out walk in the third and stole second before Springer was hit by a pitch. They promptly pulled off a double steal but Marcus Semien lined out to deep centre to end the threat.

“I had just said I probably wasn't going to go if he went, and I did (go) and I don't really have an explanation for it,” Springer said of taking off for second. “I just ran and I'm glad I was safe. It wasn't something that I planned to do. I just kind of did it.”

Said Montoyo: “We're trying to tell him not to go, but he's just he's got that inside of him. And the good news is that he feels good doing it. Of course we've got to be careful with that. But he looked good.”

Guerrero’s solo shot in the fourth tied the game 1-1 and after the Orioles scratched out a run in the sixth on Ryan Mountcastle’s RBI single, Springer started the decisive rally in the bottom of the frame to light up a crowd of 14,406. Then in the seventh, Guerrero delivered his 38th homer to push the game out of reach.

“You knew that was coming,” Montoyo said of Guerrero’s big night.

The outburst ensured the latest Robbie Ray gem – seven innings, four hits, two runs, a walk and 10 strikeouts – didn’t go to waste. At 202 and counting, he cleared the 200-strikeout plateau for the fourth time in his career and 159.1 innings, his career best of 174.1, accomplished twice previously, is also within range.

“Just being able to go out and put up zeroes and give my team a chance to win,” Ray replied when asked what he was most proud of to this point of the season. “That's the main goal. Everything else is just going to fall into place when I can go out and I can put up those zeroes and I can keep us in the game. The big bats came around tonight and that was really great to see. But I was able to keep us in the game where we were within one run the whole time.”

Ray’s efforts in concert with the offence gave the bullpen a rare night of low leverage, even after Trent Thornton couldn’t mop up the ninth, forcing Jordan Romano to extinguish a small fire.

Nate Pearson and Julian Merryweather may soon be ready to reinforce the relief corps, with Atkins calling their most recent outings over the weekend “really encouraging. Both are recovering well. Both are feeling strong. Their stuff is there. It's just more about refining and command at this point.”

They’re due to pitch again at triple-A Buffalo on Tuesday and each is being assessed outing-to-outing at this point. The possibility of adding more leverage options and Springer delivering impact from the DH spot is one of the reasons Atkins feels the Blue Jays have “enough season left to really make a good run” at a post-season berth.

“We have yet to have a time where all things have been happening for this team,” Atkins added. “I'm very confident that it's in our future and certainly hopeful that it starts sooner and quicker to increase those chances.”

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