Blue Jays emerging out of spring slumber
TORONTO• You can’t reach .500 until you hit .400.
That would be a welcome and optimistic outlook for the steadily warming Blue Jays, who beat the Seattle Mariners 7-2 Thursday night at the Rogers Centre for their second win in a row and fourth of their past five.
Steve Pearce provided the big blast of the night, a three- run homer that was part of a five- run fifth inning that gave the Jays a four-run lead and some needed distance against the vaunted Mariners offence.
It was Pearce’s first homer at the Rogers Centre since signing with the Jays in the off season.
The big gun at the plate, however, was first baseman Justin Smoak who got the Jays on the board in the first, added a crucial two- run single in the fifth to give his team its first lead of the night and then added a solo homer in the seventh for emphasis.
Most importantly for the Jays, even with the absence of Josh Donaldson and Troy Tulowitzki, the offence is starting to heat up. On Thursday, they scored at least six runs for the fifth time this month, matching the number of times they did so in April.
The Jays are well aware that there’s plenty of climbing left to get back in contention, but at least the ascent has started to begin in earnest. With a 14-21 record, they are right at the .400 mark a notable move forward after that miserable 2-11 start.
Even with the growing contingent on the disabled list — starting pitcher Francisco Liriano was added on Thursday with shoulder inflammation — the Jays recognize there is an opportunity to grind forward in this nine- game homestand.
Manager John Gibbons has seen his team win three of the first four of their first extended stay in TO. Up next are three more this weekend against a Mariners team also battered on the pitching side but offensively daunting.
After that, it’s two at home and two on the road against the lowly Atlanta Braves, the worst team in the National League.
The Jays have now won five of their past six under the Rogers Centre roof, which has yet to be opened this season with an overall record of 7-9.
But first things first for a Jays team that cannot afford to look too far ahead, nor get over confident with any opponent, was Thursday’s assignment.
Marco Estrada may not have had his best material, but the professional pitcher that he is, the Toronto starter limited the M’s to four hits over six innings while striking out eight. And more importantly, after giving up a two- run homer in the first, never allowed another run.
The way the Jays bullpen has pitched with confidence of late, it was a credible effort all around to hold the M’s to just two runs. Add in some offence and despite the injuries, Gibbons and company have it pointed in the right direction.
SMOAK SHOW
Remember when so much discussion in the off season centred around the projected struggles of Smoak at first base?
Not hearing too much of it any more.
Smoak had himself quite an evening on Thursday, driving in no less than four runs including the winning run in the fifth. The punctuation coming with his seventhinning homer to extend the Jays lead to 7-2.
It was Smoak’s sixth homer of the season, giving him a share of the club led in that department. Smoak now has 21 RBI on the season, just 14 shy of his production all of last year.
The production is particularly welcome given the absence of so many regulars plus the slow starts by Jose Bautista and to a lesser extent, designated hitter, Kendrys Morales.
FIVE ALIVE
After a sleepy evening offensively, the Jays came to life in the fifth, beating up on M’s starter Chase De Jong, who was making just the third start of his major league career.
And the five- run outburst started innocently enough when Kevin Pillar drew a two-out walk with nobody on.
Ezequiel Carrera kept it going with a single and De Jong didn’t seem to want much to do with Jose Bautista and walked the Jays slugger.
That brought Smoak to the plate and a single that just made it out of the outfield scored a pair and set the stage for Pearce who hit his fourth homer of the year but his first at the Rogers Centre.