TORONTO -- One day after looking like a team with no shot at the postseason, the Blue Jays pulled everyone back in. Over and over again, they keep doing it.
Saturday afternoon’s 7-3 win over the Orioles was bold and convincing, an immediate reversal of the energy that filled Rogers Centre the night before. The Blue Jays (74-75) now sit just one game behind the Guardians (75-74) for the final American League Wild Card spot. This win also keeps the Orioles (72-77) two games behind Toronto.
This is what mattered most:
1. The AL Wild Card picture
Holding off the O’s is crucial, especially with another three games in Baltimore coming up from Sept. 21-23. A few bad days could flip this race on the Blue Jays quickly, so picking up one win from this series ahead of Dylan Cease’s start in Sunday’s finale was necessary.
It’s officially scoreboard watching season, and as soon as Saturday’s win was over, all eyes went to the Guardians and Rangers games already underway.
“[Urgency] has been high for a couple of months,” manager John Schneider said. “I think it’s going to be like that all the way to the end. Every game matters and there are still important games that are going to be played all the way down the stretch. The urgency level has been high for a while, as has stress, as has everything.”
2. Brett Bateman, power hitter???
Not even 24 hours after launching his first career MLB home run, Bateman launched his second to almost the exact same spot. What’s going on here?
Bateman never homered in college over 128 games with the Minnesota Golden Gophers, then homered just six times across parts of four Minor League seasons. He’s always been the contact guy, using his great speed on the bases and excellent defense to support most of his value, but these past two games against the Orioles have shown us something completely unexpected.
“It’s like Willie Mays Hayes, Major League 2,” Schneider said. “Yesterday on a slider, today on a fastball, it’s just good swings. He’s getting good pitches to hit. He’s having confidence. I don’t want to say I’m shocked, but that’s not usually part of his game. We’ll definitely take it.”
Bateman isn’t going to turn into José Bautista, just like his BABIP isn’t going to sustain with all of these base hits finding holes, but that’s not the point right now. If Bateman can just drive the ball more consistently and pull six or eight balls over the wall each season, that helps to round out his offensive profile and could save him -- at least a bit -- from the typical “luck” fluctuations on balls in play that contact hitters face from year to year.
Later in that same inning, Alejandro Kirk launched his 10th of the season, another great sign from one of the hottest hitters in this lineup. It’s taken some time for that power to come back after he fractured his left thumb earlier this season, but it’s all the way back now.
“That’s really, really helpful,” Schneider said. “Just his presence with a single in the first and the home run, it’s really helpful. You see how the game can change quickly with these home runs. Kirky swinging it the way he has in the second half is a big reason we’ve gotten back into this.”
3. Miles sticks the landing ... again
The first inning wasn’t pretty, with the bases loaded and a fly ball to the base of the wall to end the inning, but any “zero” on the scoreboard works. Spencer Miles gave the Blue Jays two of those, and with a 2.71 ERA over 89 2/3 innings, he remains one of the best stories on this team.
This is the role Miles will fill the rest of the season, but things get much more interesting this coming offseason. Miles wants to be a starter, and it sounds like the Blue Jays are thinking right along with him.
“You can always add on a few innings to whatever he finishes with this year and it’s nice to think of him as a starter,” Schneider said. “We’ll cross that bridge in the offseason and give him a full offseason to get prepared for whatever role. He’s been really good for multiple innings out of the bullpen, too, so that will be an interesting one to solve. I think the potential is there to be a starter. He’s got the weapons to be a starter.”