Blue Jays land knockout punch in 8th inning after Gausman stuns again

TORONTO -- We haven’t seen the Blue Jays accelerate through the finish line often this season.

So many of their wins have looked more like the two that ended their recent series in New York, where they cling to a small, early lead and hope to reach shore before taking on too much water. Friday’s 6-2 win, with a knockout punch of three insurance runs in the eighth, is a better way to live.

“That was a big inning, adding on,” manager John Schneider said. “We were really light in the bullpen today anyways, so that was good to see. We had a couple of big swings early, then took advantage of some of their mistakes. The eighth inning, that was nice.”

This is what mattered most from the win:

1. PIÑA POWER: One big hit

Yohendrick Piñango’s two-run double in the third inning was a rocket into the right-field corner, one of hardest-hit balls of the Blue Jays’ season at 114.8 mph off the bat.

In the Statcast Era (since 2015), only two Blue Jays rookies have recorded a base hit with a higher exit velocity than that 114.8-mph double from Piñango: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Rowdy Tellez.

In the coming days, we’re going to have “the Piñango conversation” again. Nathan Lukes could be ready to be activated from his hamstring injury as early as Monday, and as a fellow lefty-hitting outfielder, Piñango will clearly be on that bubble. Should he be, though?

Last time this happened, Piñango was optioned back to Triple-A for Addison Barger despite the fact he’d gotten off to a great start in the big leagues. Barger quickly injured himself again, though, which yanked Piñango right back to the Major Leagues, so here we are again. Yes, Piñango’s defense has been flawed and not every at-bat has been as explosive as this one, but the Blue Jays need bats in their lineup that feel threatening. It’s a short list, but Piñango is on it, and the rookie keeps forcing hard decisions on this front office.

2. SAME OLD: Kevin Gausman

One of the highest compliments I can give Kevin Gausman is that he’s becoming more challenging to write about every five days. These outings all look so steady and so similar to one another, but that’s the beauty of what he brings to this rotation. He’s the same pitcher every time, and when you’re as talented as Gausman is, that’s the goal.

Friday night was Gausman at his very best, racking up eight strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball to drop his ERA to 3.23. He’s now given the Blue Jays at least six innings in seven of his 11 starts this season, incredibly valuable given the injuries in this rotation.

One “new” development Friday? Gausman’s slider was excellent. The pitch is typically a back-seat driver to his fastball and brilliant splitter, but Gausman has been tinkering with his delivery on that specific pitch recently and got six whiffs on just eight swings. That’s as good as it gets for Gausman.

“It’s awesome. That’s a pitch that… there’s so many times over the course of my career where I’ve felt like I have guys set up for it,” Gausman said, “but it’s not really my bread and butter, so I go with my other strengths. If that’s a pitch that keeps getting better, that would be awesome.”

3. RUN IT: Springer looking like 2025

They don’t run often, but they run well. The Blue Jays rank 25th in baseball with just 23 stolen bases, but they’ve only been thrown out three times, an 88% success rate. If they aren’t hitting for power, this is an area they can -- and should -- begin to exploit more.

The most encouraging moment of the game, though, came from George Springer. If there is one image that captures Springer’s 2025 season, it would be him flooring it from first to third on a base hit behind him, typically from Bo Bichette or Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Springer became one of the best in baseball at this, or scoring from second on their singles, and that became contagious for a lineup that seemed to squeeze every conceivable run out of games.

Springer did it again Friday, racing from first to third on a Vladdy single, before scoring the first run of the night. It looks like his broken big toe is just fine now, and coming off two home runs earlier this week against the Yankees, this is starting to feel like the Springer who was the Blue Jays’ MVP last season. If he gets hot, everyone else will follow.