Blue Jays trounce Yankees 9-3

Guerrero Jr. continues hot streak with six RBIs

There has been good news and bad news over the last seven days, but on Saturday in the wake of a 9-3 victory over the Yankees, there were two questions to be asked about the Blue Jays and their topsy-turvy week. In some convoluted “glass half full/glass half-empty” sort of way, they were: 1-how can you only be 3-3 as a team when you score 43 runs in those six games? 2-how can you manage to be 3-3 as a team when your bullpen allows 18 earned runs in 19 innings in those same six games?

I asked those questions of Jays manager John Schneider in his post-game availability, following the convincing win over Nestor Cortes and the Yankees, in support of the twitchy warrior, Chris Bassitt, who was hit on the right forearm by a 101.6 mph line drive off the bat of Aaron Judge in the first, but managed to stay in the game to complete six strong innings, picking up the win.

“You want to be able to keep what you’re doing offensively for sure,” Schneider said. “Then there’s going to be times where you don’t hold the lead, you give up some runs and you’ve got to try and balance it out.

“Going back to what I said yesterday, there’s going to be opportunities for (relievers) to step up. Today, (Brendon) Little did. (Zach) Pop did. Jose (Cuas) did, albeit the (ninth-inning) homer to (Austin) Wells. There’s going to be opportunities. So I think you’ve got to try to keep doing what you’re doing offensively. I think the difference in those (three) games that we did lose…you look at the game in Boston where there was a popup (turned into a double), then on Friday we didn’t really handle the ball very well. I think that’s kind of the difference, but there’s going to be opportunities, whether it’s bullpen or the guys at the plate to step up. We’ve got to keep doing it.”

However, the real hero of this game was Bassitt. After being staggered by Judge in the first, a jury of his peers decided on whether to allow him to stay in the game or not. Trotting onto the field and rendering the verdict were Schneider and head trainer Jose Ministral. The verdict was that he could continue, as long as he could manage the pain and inevitable stiffness, sure to come. After a few warmup pitches, Bassitt continued. He knew the bullpen was struggling, so he stepped up to ease their pain.

“Concerns were a lot, at that point, walking out, when you see him take a ball like that off his throwing arm,” Schneider explained. “Chris has been through a lot on the mound before and he was determined to not come out of the game. I didn’t want him to do anything crazy and stupid. Chris is such a competitor and good teammate, to where he wanted nothing more than he did today and yet you have to put your health first, a little bit when something like that happens. I can’t really speak enough about the determination, grit. That’s what really sums him up.”

On the offensive side, Vlad Guerrero Jr. led the way with three hits and six RBIs, including a double and a homer, raising his season RBI total to 50. Vlad set a team record with his sixth straight multi-RBI game. He has 19 RBIs in his last six games.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa moved back into the two-hole in the lineup and banged out four hits, while George Springer continued his hot streak, despite Friday’s dangerous-looking hit-by-pitch that caused a left-hand contusion. He rapped out a pair of doubles and drew a walk. In fact, the top five hitters in the Jays batting order combined to go 11-for-21-.524, with five doubles, a homer and seven RBIs. The 43 runs scored over six games by the Jays are the result of a pass-the-baton mentality.

“Izzy (Kiner-Falefa) is underrated, four hits today and big hits,” Schneider said. “Yeah I think they’re all doing their part. They’re all having good at-bats and passing it on down the road. It’s been nice to see it come together over the last couple of weeks. The key is to keep doing it.”

Make no mistake about it, the top four starting pitchers, the heart and soul of this ‘24 team, including Bassitt, have surely noticed and appreciated the added run support and the feeling that they no longer need to be perfect.

“We try not to let runs affect us,” Bassitt said. “We constantly tell ourselves it’s a 0-0 ballgame, honestly, so the offence, we try not to let it affect starting pitching. From an offensive standpoint, I’m just happy they’re getting rewarded for all their hard work.”

The Yankees series concludes on Sunday with Kevin Gausman facing Gerrit Cole, making his second start since coming back from the Injured List. The Jays now have a chance to win the four-games series and get back to five games under .500 with four home games coming against the Astros.