Jays get much-needed rest following win
BALTIMORE — Dioner Navarro was batting .182 in June. On Sunday he had three hits, including two doubles, and two RBIs.
Edwin Encarnacion had gone 0-for-16 before collecting a couple of hits on Saturday. He had three more on Sunday, including two that set up runs.
J.A. Happ failed to survive the fourth inning in his previous start. This time he pitched into the seventh, walked none, struck out six and surrendered a single run.
After soaring through May, the Toronto Blue Jays have not caught that big wind again. But their ship seems steadier now.
“Today was a big game for us,” manager John Gibbons said after the Jays beat Baltimore 5-2 to split a four-game series. “We came to life a little bit. Happ was outstanding. He gave us just what we needed.”
Toronto entered the series with a 4 ½ -game lead in the American League East and left with the same edge over the second-place Orioles.
The low-scoring series between two offensive-minded teams was tense from start to finish and drew big, boisterous crowds for the final three games.
Now comes a day of rest in New York before the Jays open a three-game set in Yankee Stadium on Tuesday.
“These guys are dragging ass, man,” Gibbons said.
“They’ve been battling every day. They need a day off. I don’t think it could’ve come at a better time. But they’ve been guttin’ it out.”
Cliches abound in that observation, but it was indeed a stressful series for both clubs. The Jays won 4-0 and 5-2 and lost 4-2 and 3-2. Every starting pitcher for each side worked at least six innings. In the Jays’ two wins, they led by only two runs entering the eighth inning. Toronto leads the majors in homers but hit only one in the series.
Navarro, whose sore legs have been nagging for weeks, singled home the second run and doubled in the fourth run to let his team exhale a bit. Both of those hits were soft and well-placed, but when a reporter brought up that topic, Navarro grinned and interjected: “Those were line drives.”
He acknowledged the importance of splitting a series that, even in mid-June, could have staggered the Jays in their bid to maintain legitimacy as a contending club.
“They almost brought the tying run to the plate in the last inning,” Navarro said.
“So every run, especially in the East (is important). One swing can change everything ... It ended up being a threerun win, but it could’ve been a lot closer.”
Jose Bautista’s RBI double opened the scoring in the first. The Jays led 2-0 after four innings and 3-0 after five. Dustin McGowan’s nifty relief held a 3-1 lead for Happ in the seventh, and a two-spot in the eighth made it a comparative rout for the Jays, who continue to scuffle to score runs.
Happ (6-3, 4.05 ERA) struck out Nick Markakis and Manny Machado with runners at second and third in the third inning to escape his biggest jam and preserve a one-run lead.
“He’s playing his part so far,” Bautista said of the club’s fifth starter. “He’s given us a chance to win. That’s what we need ... He’s pitching later into games, which I know has been an obstacle for him in the past. He’s overcoming some of his weaknesses.”