SAN FRANCISCO -- It’s been a while since a Blue Jays game looked like that.
Where was the stress? Where was that feeling of anxiety when the offense came up to bat? You didn’t need to curse at your television once Tuesday night.
We can’t call anything a “turnaround” until we see a week’s worth of games like this, but Tuesday’s 9-3 win over the Giants was a fantastic first step, the exact type of win this offense needed. Now, showing up to the ballpark for Wednesday afternoon’s finale just got a little more exciting.
This is what mattered most:
1. The unlikely hero
It was Jonatan Clase, of all people, to finally break things open for the Blue Jays. Kept around as a reserve outfielder, at least until the All-Star break, Clase has been an afterthought in the big league depth picture, but he’s come on strong in Triple-A recently and got a shot batting eighth Tuesday.
His first at-bat? A towering, three-run shot that just snuck over the big wall in right field. The Blue Jays’ outfield erupted, sensing that it could be “the hit” they’ve been waiting on.
“That definitely gave us a spark,” manager John Schneider said. “When you get three young kids out there rounding the bases, it’s pretty cool. It takes a little bit of pressure off everyone else. You want to score. That was the max [Spencer] Miles was going, so you want to score to line up the bullpen. That one was a little different.”
This Blue Jays team is still grasping for any trace of its 2025 identity, and one of the core traits of last year’s club was its ability to have someone step up every single night, even those you’d least expect. Even if this is one of just a handful of moments we see from Clase this season, it mattered deeply to a team teetering on the edge of some very uncomfortable conversations ahead of the Trade Deadline.
2. The one that got away
The Giants couldn’t possibly have seen this coming when they lost Miles to the Blue Jays in the Rule 5 Draft last December. Even if they were high on Miles, he’d thrown just a handful of innings in the low Minors and missed substantial time with arm and back surgeries. There was no hype here, and no outcry from the Giants’ faithful when Miles went to the Blue Jays.
Well, look at him now. Miles’ performance Tuesday wasn’t his best of the season, but it didn’t need to be. Filling in as the Blue Jays’ starter -- call it a “leadoff bulk guy” in a bullpen game -- Miles held the Giants to two runs on seven hits over four innings.
Miles doesn’t seem like the “revenge” type, though.
“I was trying not to have too many thoughts, just go out there and be free,” he said. “A little nervous, obviously, but that comes with every outing. Today, I just wanted to not make the moment any bigger than it was, just go pitch.”
Miles has been the story of the season, going from baseball obscurity to owning a 2.95 ERA over 58 innings. It’s already so tempting to dream about Miles’ long-term potential as a full-time starter, but for now, his success in this bulk role is just incredibly valuable to the Blue Jays.
The latest on Vladdy
If this lineup can have top-to-bottom efforts like this one, then get Vladimir Guerrero Jr. back on track, that’s when the magic happens.
Speaking pregame Tuesday, hitting coach David Popkins was pumping out sharp analogies, with one of his best saved for Guerrero, who went 1-for-5 with a single Tuesday.
“His swing is more like an orchestra,” Popkins said. “We need every instrument to play at the right time.”
Right now, they clearly aren’t. Guerrero has struggled before, but never like this and never for this long.
“This is the first extended one that he’s felt, but he’s handled it like a true professional,” Popkins said. “He’s a guy who has been raised around this game. He’s built for this game and the stress that comes with it. You learn a lot about yourself and you learn a lot about your team when you’re facing adversity like this.”
What we’ve learned over the first 92 games is that, without Guerrero playing anywhere close to his best baseball, the Blue Jays can’t be anywhere close to the team they need to be. When Vladdy gets hot, the Blue Jays will follow, but the wait has already stretched on too long.