DEEP IMPACT
Blue Jays designated hitter Alejandro Kirk hits the first of his two solo home runs on Tuesday night at Yankee stadium. Kirk went three-for-four with two RBIs as the Jays won 5-1 to gain ground on the Yankees in the wild-card race.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. joined the 40-homer club during the series opener against the New York Yankees earlier this week and there’s a chance he might have some company before the Blue Jays roll out of The Bronx on Thursday.
The red-hot Marcus Semien was up to his usual tricks in the Jays’ 5-1 victory over the Yankees on Tuesday. Entering the night with homers in back-toback games, the versatile middle infielder made it three in a row with a solo blast in the fifth inning.
Semien is now up to 38 homers, good enough for fourth in the majors, as his remarkable bounceback season continues. There’s arguably nobody hotter in baseball than the soon-to-be free agent and it’s the surging Jays who have been reaping the rewards.
Assuming Semien gets at least two more homers before the end of the season, which seems like a foregone conclusion if he stays healthy, he and Guerrero would become the fourth duo in franchise history to hit 40 in the same season, joining Jose Bautista and Josh Donaldson (2015), Carlos Delgado and Tony Batista (2000) and Delgado and Shawn Green (1999).
Semien’s grand slam during Monday’s series opener allowed him to break Aaron Hill’s record for the most homers by a Jays middle infielder. He ranks among the leaders at those two positions in other major categories, too. Semien’s .540 slugging percentage entering play on Tuesday was the highest by a Jays middle infielder while only Roberto Alomar in 1992 posted a higher WAR than Semien’s 6.1.
“He’s in the conversation now of the MVP too, easily,” Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said after the game. “His August was kind of down a little bit, but this guy prepares so much, and every day he does the same thing, the same routine, that you knew he was going to get hot again. I didn’t know he was going to get as hot as he has been, but he has been outstanding. This guy is the total package.”
The man who bet on himself by signing a one-year deal during the off-season, with the expectation of hitting a much bigger payday after he lived up to his own expectations, is about to become one of the most highly coveted free agents out there and every hit he gets only causes the price tag to increase.
There will be time to debate the value of Semien’s next contract during the winter. What’s more important to the Jays is riding his strong play to catch the Yankees or Boston Red Sox for one of the two wild-card spots. A week ago, that task seemed almost impossible, but things change in a hurry in baseball and a strong stretch against fellow contenders has made that a lot more realistic.
The late push began with a series sweep of the Oakland A’s to pull even with them in the standings. Then they took the first two games against the slumping Yankees as the Jays increased their winning streak to six and improved to a season-high 13 games over .500. A win on Wednesday or Thursday would secure their fourth consecutive series victory.
Add in a three-game losing streak for the Red Sox, who lost 12-7 to Tampa Bay on Tuesday, and the standings are suddenly tight. The Jays’ win in Game 2 of their series in New York, aided by six innings of one-run ball by Steven Matz, pulled them within 2 1⁄2 games of the Yankees. The Red Sox lead is down to two.
Tuesday’s script was like many of the other Jays games that have played out over the last week. Another quality outing by a starting pitcher and a lot of power from the lineup. After slugging three homers in the series opener, they added another three the following day, including a pair of solo shots from rookie catcher Alejandro Kirk, who entered the night hitting .300 with an .825 on-base plus slugging since returning from injury on July 23.
The score wasn’t the only area where the Yankees were saddled with a loss. Even more problematic than the result was No. 1 starter Gerrit Cole leaving in the fourth inning with left hamstring tightness. Cole hasn’t been on the injured list since 2016, and losing such a key piece now would make their path to the post-season that much more challenging.
While the Jays aren’t quite at the point where they control their own destiny, they aren’t far off. They are even with the Red Sox in the loss column and two back of the Yankees. New York used a 13-game winning streak to build a 6-⁄ game lead 1
2 on the wild card as late as Aug. 27. It has been dwindling ever since and the Yankees can no longer be considered the lock they once were.
“The unity in the clubhouse is huge right now,” Kirk said after the game.
“Everybody’s confident, not just the offence, the pitching staff is doing a great job also. Everybody is doing their part to try and win ball games. We’re feeling good right now, our level of confidence is pretty good.”
At the start of the Oakland series, it was mentioned in this space that the upcoming week would either break the Jays season or put them in prime position to make a move over the final two-plus weeks. With a perfect 5-0 record to open that crucial stretch, things couldn’t be going much better than they are right now.
Now is the time to get greedy. The Jays need at least one win over the final two games in the Bronx to keep the positive vibes going. The Yankees aren’t on the ropes, but they’re being backed into a corner and the Jays are the ones going on the offensive. What a difference a couple weeks makes in the race for the post-season.