Bullpen strikes back in Jays win
Relievers lights out in support of Liriano day after nightmare
Someone asked if Joe Biagini was having a Greta Garbo moment.
“You mean my aunt Greta? Or are you talking about somebody else?’’
Pause, to consider. “It’s one of my many moments.”
Could well be that the galumphing and quirky Blue Jays reliever is Garbo-clueless.
As in, the screen goddess’ most famous movie line: “I vant to be alone.’’
But there was Biagini, after his crucial contribution to Saturday’s 4-1 win over Tampa Bay, doing his oddball furtive thing in the clubhouse: The Man Behind the Curtain.
For reasons best known to him, the big righty conducted his post-game media scrum from behind the logo backdrop cranked down from the ceiling, in front of which players usually stand to face the microphones and tape recorders.
Which totally cracked up teammates, including Russell Martin, who panned the bizarre scene with his smartphone.
Biagini, of course, acted as if there was nothing the teensiest bit strange.
Perhaps, given Toronto’s squishy bullpen, the strangest part about this game was — after blowing leads and decisions in their last three outings — the relief corps bucked up starter Francisco Liriano, holding the Rays run-less, limited to one hit, from Biagini to Joe Smith to Roberto Osuna.
While Justin Smoak and Martin pretty much took care of all the offence.
Nursing a 2-1 lead in the sixth, when Liriano gifted the Rays a leadoff walk and Chris Coghlan booted what should have been an easy-peasy double-play ball, putting runners on first and second with none out. And we’ve seen this scenario unfold ugly too often in the month of April.
That put an end to Liriano’s otherwise competent afternoon, in which he managed to bring his ERA down to under 4.00 from its freaky stratosphere of 135.00, back on April 7.
He’d thrown 99 pitches, rather a lot for five innings-plus.
Still, Liriano took almost a wistful look at the bump before departing.
Understandable, with all the undermining out of a shaky ’pen. The Jays have blown eight of 13 save chances, Osuna alone responsible for three of those. And Toronto had lost 10 games out of 22 in which they’d enjoyed a lead.
So, on comes Biagini, among the least culpable of that bull bunch, and everybody at the Rogers Centre is doubtless thinking how the Jays can get out of this jam with minimum damage, when maximum has so frequently been the formula.
Shortstop Tim Beckham clearly had his bunting orders as he tried to lay down a bunt FOUR TIMES. With the count 1-and-2, he bit into a deep curveball offering from Biagini for a bunt-foul strikeout.
“I think you’ve got to throw strikes in that situation, obviously,” said Biagini later, nothing obvious about him. “Sometimes it’s a little bit distracting to have to deal with the runners on base and the bunt situation. You’re thinking: Okay, what do I do when I get the ball? Where do I cover? And sometimes you lose your focus on actually attacking the hitter, the most important job that you have in that situation.
“In that situation, you don’t want to overthink it. Like I don’t want to overthink this interview, these questions you’re asking. You have a simple task each pitch and that’s what you have to execute the best. So, honestly, I was trying to think as little as possible in that situation, just attack the spot. If you start to think, ‘Oh, he’s bunting, I can kind of take this pitch off and just lay it in there,’ I don’t think that works for anybody.’’
Upon further contemplation: “I’m definitely less comfortable with guys on base, anybody would be. I’m more comfortable right now than I was in the game. Just because I have a nice sheet blocking me.’’
At which point, Biagini went off on a narrative tangent.
“I used to talk about this with my dad. I remember people saying: This guy is a superstar because he just elevates his game in the big situations. And I never really bought into that. I always thought it was more likely that the best players are able to just be themselves in the biggest situations, because a lot of time it’s tempting to tighten up and overthink things.’’
Having dispatched Beckham, Biagini turned his attention to pinch-hitter Brad Miller and got a K out of him on a foul tip before inducing a ground-ball out from Logan Morrison, pinch-hitting — arguably some overthinking coming out of the Tampa dugout.
Fifteen pitches from Biagini in the inning, nine for strikes, and Liriano was still clinging to a putative W, and would indeed grab it.
A frame later, Biagini inadvertently hit Steven Souza Jr. hard on the back of his hand, which may have been more distressing to the pitcher than the batter. Fastball at 95 m.p.h. Biagini was definitely shaken as Souza lay at the plate, pounding his leg on the ground in pain.
“That’s not fun. I’d rather give up a home run to somebody than injure somebody or put them out for a while.
“A guy like that has been swinging so well, is such a great hitter, that we had to be aggressive on him. That one kind of got away from me. As soon as it came out of my hand, I said, ‘Oh no, get out of the way.’ ’’
Souza, who left the game, suffered an abrasion but X-rays didn’t reveal any broken bones.
In between, the Jays made their bones in a profitable bottom of the sixth. Jose Bautista walked to lead off, stole his first base of the season, then got rocked ’round home when Justin Smoak took Tampa starter Matt Andriese’s 91-m.p.h. fastball out of the park to straightaway centre, his fourth home run of the season.
“In that situation, I was just trying to put the ball in play,” said Smoak. “Two strikes, I was battling. Pitch I was able to get a pretty good piece of.”
The first baseman enjoyed his third three-hit game of the season, with singles in the first and fourth frames. The latter led to a 2-1 Toronto lead, off a beautifully placed stroke by Martin through the gap in left-centre that skipped all the way to the track. Smoak lumbered 270 feet from first and slid home with no throw on the play.
“If I didn’t slide there I would probably have ended up in their dugout. For me to score from first, normally I’m sliding into home plate. So I slid.”
The Rays got their only run in the second, despite a brilliant throw home from Bautista on a Jesus Sucre single. Beckham was originally called out but the call was overturned upon video review.
The Jays also took heart from a tidy 1-2-3 closeout by Osuna, nailing only his second save of the season and obediently throwing the fourseam fastball that Martin was putting down.
“I felt much better,” the young closer said afterwards. “I threw more four-seams today, which was the conversation I had with Russell Martin yesterday. So I’m really happy about it.”
But why had he been eschewing his bread-and-butter four-seam heater, opting for more two-seamers and breaking stuff?
“I don’t know. I don’t know. Good question.”