Jays building momentum without their best players
TORONTO It was a week or so ago when Blue Jays manager John Gibbons was given a little history lecture in Toronto baseball by former club president Paul Beeston and, with it, a lesson in perspective.
The two were commiserating about the brutal start to a season with such high expectations. Beeston had seen it before and also was the steward to the magical turnaround in 1989.
“He says, ‘We started out 12-24,’” Gibbons said, leaning back in the leather chair of his office in the Jays clubhouse. “We went on and won the division. You guys can still do it … the only problem is we fired Jimy Williams.’”
Gibbons broke out in laughter at the telling, but the reality is the manager hasn’t even hinted at giving up hope. And minus losing his job, he still has aspirations of engineering a similar recovery.
The Jays took another step in the right direction Friday with a 4-0 win over the Seattle Mariners, matching a season-high three victories in a row and five of their past six.
A team that began 2-11 is now 1521 and doing so with three-fifths of its starting infield and the same percentage of its starting pitching staff on the disabled list.
The leaders of the AL East may be much further gone than they were when Cito Gaston took over from Williams in ’89, but that era didn’t include a wild-card route to the post-season.
A winning run looking less modest by the day certainly has the veteran Jays squad playing with confidence.
Jose Bautista was the hero at the plate Friday. Bautista beat up on a third-inning offering from Mariners pitcher Christian Bergman, making his first career start.
Bautista pulled it high and hard off the left-field foul pole to extend the Jays’ lead to 3-0.
The Jays got another solid starting effort from Joe Biagini as the team waits the return of Aaron Sanchez, J.A. Happ and Francisco Liriano.
Perhaps the biggest roadblock to .500 and beyond is the injuryravaged lineup Gibbons has been dealing with.
If the Jays can continue to chip away at the standings — their win percentage is now .417 — until Troy Tulowitzki, Josh Donaldson and Russell Martin return, look out.
The fact they’ve begun the climb back before those regulars return only adds to the encouragement, not to mention the confidence of players such as Ryan Goins and Ezequiel Carrera, who are getting added playing time.
NO ORDINARY JOE
Gibbons is a big fan of the quirky Biagini, even more so we’re thinking after his excellent outing Friday.
Working around the dangerous Mariners lineup, Biagini pitched six-plus innings of shutout ball. In his two major-league starts, the big right-hander has pitched nine innings and has yet to surrender a run.
Even better, in those innings he’s allowed six hits while striking out seven. And perhaps most impressive about his nine innings is Biagini has remained so cool he hasn’t yielded a single walk.
“I could see him being a good major-league starter,” Gibbons said. “He got the stuff. More than enough. Nothing bothers Joe.”
He has certainly remained cool on the mound as he threw a careerhigh 67 pitches Thursday and exited to a standing ovation from the festive Friday night crowd at the dome.
“Joe’s very unique,” Gibbons said. “You’ve got to approach Joe a little different than the other guys. You almost have to talk his language a little bit. But Joe gets it. It’s kind of refreshing.”
JOSE, JOSE, JOSE
As mentioned above, some pop in Bautista’s bat is something Gibbons and the Jays have been waiting for. With two homers in three games, Bautista is starting to produce.
“It’s just a matter of time. I believe that. He knows that,” Gibbons said. “Jose’s one of those pressure players. He’s always thrived in that in his career and he likes that. he doesn’t shy away from that. the spot he’s hitting in the order, that always adds a little bit to it and he’s always been good there.”
Bautista’s two-run homer on Friday was the 17th the Jays have hit in 11 games this month.