Hernandez continues showing Jays offence
• Of the growing number of things to like about the late- season surge of Blue Jays outfielder Teoscar Hernandez, near the top is the fact that he appears to be taking advantage of a full month in the big leagues.
And now we’ll see if the young Jay runs with it all the way to a roster spot for 2018.
Hernandez flashed some more power Monday night at Fenway Park with a two-RBI double off the Green Monster in the second inning. And as he continues to grow in confidence, it’s difficult for those around him not to notice.
“In this game, you only get so many opportunities,” Jays manager John Gibbons said prior to the Jays’ 6-4 win to open a three- game series with the AL East leading Red Sox. “He’s at that that point (age 24.) Time for him to make it. Be a big- league player.”
While careful not to read too much into the performance of a September call- up on a team going nowhere, Hernandez has been impressive. On Sunday at the Rogers Centre, he hit a leadoff home run, his third round- tripper in as many game and his fifth of the season.
His double on Monday gave him 14 RBI, four more than any previous September call-up in Jays history. It also kept the inning alive for red- hot Josh Donaldson to bang in two more runs with a double of his own. That gave the Jays a 5-1 lead at the time, runs they would need as the Red Sox slowly chipped away to make it a one-run game going into the ninth.
Gibbons feels Hernandez is thriving now that he’s settled into the big- league routine. After he was dealt to the Jays in August in the deal that sent pitcher Francisco Liriano to Houston, he spent the first month with the triple-A Buffalo Bisons.
“It’s never easy going into a new environment,” Gibbons said. “Really, like any young newcomer to the team, you want to make things work. Now he’s just settled in, feels part of the team and he’s having some great results.”
HOLD THE BUBBLY
As one scribe put it, the Jays could be the cause for as many as three champagne parties over their final week and change of the season.
The Yankees had the first pop at it on Saturday in Toronto when they clinched a wild-card spot at the Rogers Centre. The Red Sox have a chance to clinch the American League East division title at some point in this three-game series.
And on the weekend in the Bronx, the Yankees have a shot at clinching home-field advantage for a wild- card date, likely against the Twins.