Team soaring after sweep of Yankees
Eight-game winning streak has Jays in wild-card hunt
Through the occasional slumps and exhilarating growing pains mixed with unbridled excitement, Charlie Montoyo has stuck by his young Blue Jays, his belief resolute that big things awaited them.
And on Thursday, the thirdyear manager was talking like a proud father before his team finished off one of the most impressive runs under his tenure.
A 6-4 win to sweep away the New York Yankees right in their potentially daunting Bronx home was a punctuation — not to mention a punch to the Yankees gut — on what has been a huge series of victories for the franchise.
Not only did it extend the Jays winning streak to eight games — the longest for the team since an 11-game run in 2015 — it moved them to within a half game of the plummeting Yankees for the second American League wildcard spot.
Led on this night by Bo Bichette and Vlad Guerrero at the plate and starter Jose Berrios on the mound, the Jays once again strutted into the vaunted stadium like they wanted to own the joint.
Comfortable and confident, the Jays are playing their best baseball at the most opportune team and are steaming towards a September to remember.
“I think they are very comfortable because our starters are doing a great job and they know we have a chance to win every day but they also know how this works,” Montoyo said in a quiet moment prior to Thursday’s Yankee backbreaker. “(It’s) one game at a time.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen tonight, but I’m very proud of these guys taking at least three here in Yankee Stadium.”
Make that a four-pack after yet another clutch display against a disheartened division opponent.
The latest win for the redhot team allowed them a fourgame series sweep in the Bronx for the first time since 2003. Now at 77-62, the torrid Jays have won 11 of their past 12.
In sweeping both the Yankees and the Athletics (in a three-game set this past weekend) the Jays have rocketed into solid playoff contention.
“I’ve been in this division for a while now so I know it’s difficult,” Montoyo said of moving into contention among such tough company. “That’s why I’m so proud of my team. It’s great, actually.
“(The winning streak) is not just eight games, playing against anybody. It’s against the A’s and the Yankees.”
The benefits of the streak have been remarkable. Just two weeks ago, the Jays were 9.5 games behind the Yankees but have gone 11-1 while the Bronx Bombers have bombed to a 2-10 record, closing the gap to just a half a game.
Arguably even more daunting for opponents in raw payoff race is the Jays mindset. Rather than being intimidated, the Jays dominated the Pinstripers by a combined score of 25-8.
“Because this team has gone through everything this year and they’re relaxed,” Montoyo said when asked about that bravado. “The one thing about having momentum is your (starting pitching.) Our starters have been outstanding and that gives you a chance to win every day and that helps your confidence.”
On Thursday, the Jays wasted little time marking their territory yet again.
Getting a shot at hitting in the leadoff spot, shortstop Bichette responded with a leadoff homer togged the Jays started in style. And in the seventh, he cashed in the go-ahead run with an RBI single.
As has been the way during the recent run, the team had solid pitching and defence along the way. Other than a two-run homer to Anthony Rizzo in the sixth, Berrios was superb through his 6.2 innings of work, not allowing a run through five.
In short, it was the complete type of victory that Montoyo has endorsed in his time here — pitching and defence supplemented by one of the most dynamic offences in the game
“Right now the clubhouse vibes are unbelievable,” outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. said through translator Tito Lebron. “The key to success is to be that close. Confidence. Everything.”
And that confidence runs deep throughout the lineup, a foundation that began in the shortened season of 2020 and has only grown since.
“I’m really proud of the team that we’ve continued to trust in our abilities and what we are capable of,” Bichette said. “The mood is relaxed but we are excited too. We’d just like to continue to do that.
“It’s special. We feel like everybody can contribute in a lot of different ways. When you have confidence like that in your teammates it’s fun. We’ve been trusting in ourselves and believing in ourselves through the whole season.”
VLAD MAKES HISTORY
He hits the ball hard and almost at will and now Guerrero Jr. is reaching rarified air in terms of franchise history.
The first baseman added some welcome insurance with a solo homer in the ninth, his 42nd of the season that doubled as his 100th RBI.
In terms of home runs, it moved him into a tie for sixth for the most by a Jays hitter in a season and the RBI made him the youngest player to join that century club.
Guerrero’s homer was the Jays third of the night joining Bichette’s and a fourth-inning shot from Randal Grichuk.