Grichuk catches break, homestand ends on high
A breaststroke and a skid and a jelly roll and a ball off the rib cage into the glove. All wrapped up in one first-inning out. It was not the defining moment in Toronto’s 7-2 dispatch of Texas. In fact, it was downright sloppy and probably more luck than craft. Nor did it take the edge off that .079 batting average that Randal Grichuk dragged into Sunday’s conclusion of a weekend series against the Rangers, the Blue Jays snapping a four-game losing skid.
But the widely panned Grichuk doing his imitation of a wide receiver’s lunging catch — Delino DeShields doubled up at second on the throw — at least temporarily put the defensively sturdy outfielder back in the good graces of a grousing local fan base.
A tap of the leather from starter J.A. Happ in appreciation and high-fives in the dugout.
Teoscar Hernandez: “I tell him that he’s bonita, but that was ugly.”
Bonita: pretty.
Kevin Pillar, with a mock sniff: “Mine are much more graceful.”
Happ: “Well, you could see the effort. He ended up going to the ground, but he stayed with the ball. That was huge.’’
Grichuk, who hasn’t exactly endeared himself hereabouts as successor to Jose Bautista in right, went 2-for-3 on the day with a single through the hole at shortstop that halted an 0-for-18 drought and an infield screecher that Jurickson Profar stopped but couldn’t do anything with, plus a sacrifice fly. Mostly “fly by the seat of his pants” baseball and the gods must have been smiling upon him for a change. Even elevated his average to, um, .106.
“He needed at least one sanity hit,” needled manager John Gibbons. “That’s the way it goes sometimes. But that first inning, that great catch, kind of set the tone a little bit, especially with the way things have been going.’’
Not going so hot the past week after what had been a terrific April for the club, unable to feast on the lowly Rangers and dropping a second consecutive series. But a boost nonetheless as the Jays head out on a busy eight-game road trip — with a makeup doubleheader in Cleveland for the matches rained out by a deluge earlier in the month slotted in there, en route from Minnesota to Tampa.
Props to Grichuk and all, but his W was mostly laid at the feet of Happ with a supporting star to Hernandez, the former unspooling a nine-strikeout gem over seven efficient innings, the latter connecting for his fourth home run of the season, crushing an 0-and-1 solo shot in the third and a bullet double to the centrefield wall in the seventh that left his bat at 102 m.p.h. Three jacks collectively by Toronto — Yangervis Solarte blistering a changeup from Texas starter Martin Perez in the second to tie the game 1-1, his team-leading seventh round-tripper and who saw that coming; Pillar with his fourth after twice homering in Saturday’s 7-4 loss; and Hernandez, who’s making believers out of the few remaining skeptics.
First, a closer look at Happ, the long and lean calming influence on the mound for Toronto where several of his starting brethren have been suffering hill-fits in their turns. The lefty has put together a strike-dossier in back-to-back starts — 19 whiffs and zero walks. Only other pitcher to accomplish that feat for Toronto was Roger Clemens in May 1997. Indeed, Happ has struck out at least eight batters in five consecutive starts.
“Just trying to pitch,” he said afterwards, in his usual laconic way. “Move location. Using my pitches. Just continue to work and try to keep the hitters off balance.”
Can you be more specific, J.A.?
“I can’t, really. I’m just trying to change speeds when I need to and trying not to let them see the same pitch too many times in a row. Trying to just change it up on them. But I think me being aggressive, getting strike one, is usually a good thing for me.”
Aggressive seems counterintuitive for the temperamentally tranquil Happ. Yet he can be fiendish on the mound, Sunday throwing 67 of his 99 pitches for strikes. He’s averaging 12.50 strikeouts per nine innings, just a few ticks behind Houston’s Gerrit Cole (12.60) and Seattle’s James Paxton (12.51), and doing it primarily with a commanding fastball, unleashed 74 times in the series finale, generating seven swinging strikes and 22 called strikes.
Just what the Jays needed, a settling-down performance from a starter with the over- used bullpen fatigued, though bolstered now by Carlos Ramirez, summoned Sunday from Buffalo.
“You’re definitely aware of where we’re at with the bullpen,” said Happ. “It’s spread a little bit thin there. Obviously you want to get quick outs whenever you can. But you can’t really change the game plan to accommodate that.”
It took some nudging from reporters for Happ to grant a modest pleased-with-himself comment, stepping up amidst the team’s first losing stretch. “Yeah, definitely I take pride in that. I’ve been trying to do that over the last couple of years. It feels good.”
Gibbons was most assuredly grateful.
“We desperately needed that, we really did. We’ve been looking for guys to go late in the game. We’ve had a couple along the way, but we haven’t been consistent. He’s done it now a couple of times. He shut them down and the bats came to life pretty good. We definitely needed that, I’ll tell you that.”
Of no significance was the home run Happ gave up to Renato Nunez in the second after ringing up the first two batters. Ryan Tepera recorded two strikeouts in the eighth in relief — he’s now pitched more innings (132⁄ 3) than anyone else in the bullpen cadre — and Aaron Loup mopped up in the ninth.
A trio of homers for Toronto for the fourth time this season, none more emphatic than the opposite-field blast from Hernandez in the third, high and deep into the right-field seats.
“I’m getting a lot more confidence,” said the 25-year-old Dominican, who really should have broken camp with the Jays, proving the brain trust not-so-brainy since being recalled from Buffalo on April 13. Each of his last five hits has gone for extra bases and he’s reached base safely in 14 of 15 games this month.
“From spring training, from last year and the beginning of this year, the more I play and more opportunity that I get, I’m feeling pretty good.’’
A quick enough study, he’s figured out that he’s being pitched to the outside and incorporated that in the plan he takes to the plate. “I go up there with a plan and stay with the plan and try to hit the ball the other way.”
On Sunday, he also got to exhibit a strong throwing arm from left field.
“For a long time I didn’t use my arm. I got a couple of chances today and (Saturday) to show it a little bit.’’
Big dimpled grin.
OPINION: DIMANNO from S1