GOINS, GOINS AND GONE IN A GRAND WAY
Fill-in shortstop makes a statement with starter Tulowitzki waiting in the wings
For more than a month the Blue Jays’ offence has missed the power and the potent bats of shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and third baseman Josh Donaldson. Fitting that in what is likely the final game before their return to active duty, the Jays jumped up and clubbed four homers in an 8-4 win over the Brewers at Miller Park on Wednesday, including a grand slam by stopgap shortstop Ryan Goins.
The four homers — by Kevin Pillar and Jose Bautista in the fourth inning, and Devon Travis and Goins in the sixth — were a season high for the Jays. And the slam by Goins proved the winning margin of victory as the Brewers attempted to mount a comeback from seven runs down, driving starter Marcus Stroman from the game in the bottom of the sixth.
Goins has been the everyday shortstop in the absence of Tulowitzki and has 19 RBIs for the season, fourth on the Jays.
“I think I can play every day,” a confident Goins said. “That’s what I come here to work for every day, playing or not. Now it will be interesting to see what my role will be. I know I’m not going to be in there every day, obviously. I’ll just continue to do my work and produce during the games.”
Goins has worked on his versatility the last two seasons. He plays tremendous defence at short and second base and can handle third base, first base and the corner outfield spots.
Facing Milwaukee veteran Matt Garza, the Jays pounded out seven hits in 51⁄ innings, including three
3 homers. Pillar’s blast to deep leftcentre was his seventh of the season, tying his 2016 total. His career high is 12, in 2015.
Bautista added another homertwo batters later, after Garza came up and in with a fastball and knocked the right-fielder onto his back. Bautista dusted himself off and, two pitches later, drove a long line drive to the top of the batter’s eye in centre field for his seventh homer. “How many times have we seen that?” manager John Gibbons asked. “That’s probably the worst thing that you can do, throw one up and in on him or throw one behind him.”
Bautista added a single and now has multi-hit games in seven of his last 11 games. Since May 8, he has reached base in 16 straight games, with a .382 average and 1.274 OPS.
Jays starter Marcus Stroman pitched well through five innings, allowing just two hits, one of them a solo homer by Keon Broxton. He induced two double plays, bringing his opponents’ total to 14 for the season, tops in the American League. But he walked Jonathan Villar to lead off the sixth, allowed a one-out double to Hernan Perez and gave up a two-out, three-run homer to Domingo Santana.
Stroman, who had homered in Atlanta in his last start, appeared to leave his hitting magic there. He struck out in three trips to the plate.
It was Dwight Smith Jr. who had an offensive highlight instead, Smith, pinch-hitting for Aaron Loup in the ninth, lined a double to leftcentre for his first major-league hit. The night before, Smith’s good friend Anthony Alford had done the same thing. The friends are thrilled for one another.
“It just happened that way,” Smith said. “We just discussed getting that first hit out of the way and it’s definitely a load off your shoulders.”
“Words can’t even describe how happy I am for him,” Alford said. “Me and Dwight have been pretty good friends for a few years now. Just to see him officially get his first big-league hit is special. No matter what, we’re always happy for each other . . . we want each other to have success.”
Smith was sent back to Triple-A Buffalo after the game.
The Jays are 11-6 since May 7 and are in the process of returning to good health, even if it might never be full health. General manager Ross Atkins has some tough decisions to make as the trade deadline approaches, unless his team goes on a run.
“I think the reality is that we’ve had a significant number of injuries and we’ve had to dig down into the minor leagues to overcome depth issues,” Atkins said. “The division, fortunately, hasn’t completely run away from us. But we absolutely need to go on a run at some point soon.
“There is no concrete timeline when we have to make a decision (as buyers or sellers). It all depends on the division and how we’re playing.”
The Jays appear to be close to getting a couple of starters back. Left-hander J.A. Happ, a 20-game winner last season, is headed out on assignment and is expected to make three minor-league starts. Lefty Francisco Liriano will make a rehab start on Sunday with a yet-to-bedecided affiliate before rejoining the team.