Biagini delivers, Bautista goes deep
Role players in the Blue Jays’ revised lineup were out mid-afternoon on the Rogers Centre turf, prior to their 4-0 win over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night, practising bunting with coach Tim Leiper.
Bunting? Yes, this Jays group has realized that minus injured Josh Donaldson, Troy Tulowitzki and Russ Martin it’s no longer always about bludgeoning an opponent with the long ball. There will be small ball.
In the second inning it came to pass that with runners on first and second, Darwin Barney, who had been one of those players laying down bunts off a pitching machine earlier in the day, laid down a perfect sacrifice to move them over to second and third with one out.
Then it was Devon Travis executing to produce the game’s first run. With the middle of the M’s infield playing back, conceding a run, Travis bounced an RBI groundout to the left of shortstop Jean Segura. The Jays had the contact play on and, in addition to Steve Pearce scoring, Ryan Goins hustled over to third.
When it was the Mariners’ turn, they failed to execute.
The M’s had runners of their own at second and third in the third when Segura grounded to the left of Barney at third base. He dove to make the stop and threw to first for the second out, but runner Taylor Motter froze in the baseline at third and failed to score. Execution.
In the third inning, Jose Bautista — not one of those out early for bunting practice — kept his hands inside an off-speed pitch from Christian Bergman and launched a high fly ball that hit halfway up the netting on the left-field foul pole for his fourth home run of the season. That’s oldschool Jays production.
The stat sheet may not be useful as evidence, but it seems like Bautista has been swinging the bat better on this current homestand. Acting as DH in the absence of injured Kendrys Morales, he has reached base safely in each of his last five games with two home runs, a .563 slugging average and .913 on-base plus slugging mark.
The Jays executed again in the sixth inning, and again it was the struggling Travis taking what he was given. With runners on first and third and one out, Travis drove a ball to deep left field for a sacrifice fly, scoring Goins from third base. The production was more than enough to make a winner out of Joe Biagini. The 26-year-old was making his second emergency start, and with a return date for J.A. Happ not on anyone’s radar, Biagini will continue to perform as a starter. Why not?
The former Rule 5 selection, former mop-up man and former set-up man increased his career high for pitches from 52 against the Rays on May 7 to 68 on Friday. Manager John Gibbons allowed him to start the sixth inning with a short leash, but when Segura singled he brought in lefty Aaron Loup.
In his two starts, Biagini has pitched a total of nine shutout in- nings, allowing six hits with no walks and seven strikeouts.
“I could see him being a good major-league starter,” Gibbons said. “He’s got the stuff. He’s got more than enough. Nothing bothers Joe. I’m still not sure he knows where he’s at, but that’s a good thing.
“You’ve got to approach Biagini a little bit different than the other guys. You almost have to talk his language, but he gets it. It’s not an act. That’s Joe. It’s kind of refreshing a little bit, too. It’s tough to get upset with him. You feel guilty getting on him about something.”