TORONTO — The way the Blue Jays’ dugout reacted, they weren’t entirely convinced Hansel Robles hit Randal Grichuk by accident. Based on the warnings the umpires would soon issue, they had some doubts of their own. And there’s no question as to how the 14,719 in attendance at Rogers Centre felt.
Afterwards, the Blue Jays were diplomatic, but in the moments after Grichuk got hit both bullpens prepared to rush the field if needed and coach John Schneider had to urge the Blue Jays’ players to stay put. Meanwhile, manager Charlie Montoyo ran out to argue that warnings weren’t necessary and the crowd kept buzzing. It was a couple of minutes before some semblance of order was restored.
Whenever runs start scoring in a hurry and a pitcher suddenly loses command, people are free to draw their own conclusions.
"We put up a seven spot and a guy gets hit pretty hard," starter Alek Manoah said after a memorable 12-4 win over the Red Sox Friday. "You’ve got to have your teammate’s back, man. Whether we thought it was intentional, or whether it was intentional doesn’t even matter. There’s only one person that truly knows and that’s the other pitcher."
Based on what he heard from some Red Sox players, Grichuk accepted that the pitch was the product of command issues rather than intent.
"You could read it one of two ways," Grichuk said. "I didn't read it that way. If you look at the inning, nobody pimped anything. Nobody did anything crazy or anything disrespectful to their team or him on the mound.
"They reassured me it wasn't intentional and off the bat I didn't think it was."
By then, the Blue Jays had already done plenty of damage, scoring seven runs to chase all-star right-hander Nathan Eovaldi from the game and usher in Robles. A George Springer double would later bring home Grichuk and Alejandro Kirk to cap off one of the more prolific and emotional innings this team has played in years.
The inning began with the Blue Jays down 2-0 and the bottom of the order coming up against Eovaldi. Back to back doubles from Kirk and Grichuk got the Blue Jays on the board, and after trying and failing to bunt Grichuk over, number nine hitter Breyvic Valera added a double of his own.
That tied the game 2-2, and yet the Blue Jays were just getting started. After falling behind 0-2, Bo Bichette singled off the top of the right field wall to give the Blue Jays the lead (“Probably the at-bat of the game,” Montoyo said). Teoscar Hernandez followed with a two-run double before Lourdes Gurriel Jr. chased Eovaldi from the game with a home run that hit the left field foul pole.
By the time the inning ended, the Blue Jays were up 9-2, 14 batters had come to the plate and the crowd was buzzing. By the time the game ended, the Blue Jays had won for the fourth time in a row, reinforcing their status as a team on the rise within the American League East.
"That was incredible," Grichuk said. "Guys just stepped up in big spots and kept hitting ... it was a glimpse of what this offence is capable of."
With the win, the Blue Jays are 58-49, a season-best nine games above .500. Since returning home to Toronto exactly one week ago, they’re now 7-1.
"It was electric. I can only imagine what 50,000 here is going to feel like," Manoah said. "15,000 Canadians screaming as loud as they can? It's hard to beat that. It gets really contagious."
Thanks to Manoah, the Blue Jays’ recent run of strong starting pitching continued. Over five innings, Manoah allowed just two runs on four hits while striking out four and allowing three walks. It was far from his best effort, and his velocity was slightly lower than usual, but facing this Red Sox lineup is never easy.
"He lost his command a little bit, but he still had to get good hitters out and he did," Montoyo said. "To me that was huge. That wasn't the biggest part of the game, but that was one of them for sure."
The Red Sox, on the other hand, have had notably poor starting pitching of late with 12 games since the All-Star break in which their starters have failed to go five innings. While Boston still leads the Blue Jays by 4 games in the standings, that gap was 10.5 games as recently as last Wednesday.
The way the Blue Jays are playing, the rest of the American League East should be uneasy, the Red Sox included. With six quality starters at their disposal and arguably the best offence in baseball, they’re a talented group that’s able to overcome some vulnerability in the bullpen.
Because the Blue Jays scored 12 runs, they were also able to preserve some key arms in their bullpen ahead of Saturday’s double-header. Tim Mayza, Jordan Romano, Adam Cimber and Trevor Richards will all be rested and ready with Robbie Ray and Jose Berrios slated to start.
In other words, another significant opportunity awaits a team that’s been making the most of them lately.
"We're a really good ballclub," Grichuk said. "We know the talent that we've got in that clubhouse can do some great things on the field. It's been coming together since coming to Toronto and hopefully it continues."
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiX2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnNwb3J0c25ldC5jYS9tbGIvYXJ0aWNsZS9lbW90aW9ucy1ydW4taGlnaC1lcGljLWlubmluZy1ibHVlLWpheXMtZXh0ZW5kLWhvdC1zdHJlYWsv0gFeaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc3BvcnRzbmV0LmNhL21sYi9lbW90aW9ucy1ydW4taGlnaC1lcGljLWlubmluZy1ibHVlLWpheXMtZXh0ZW5kLWhvdC1zdHJlYWsvc24tYW1wLw?oc=5
2021-08-07 03:21:00Z
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