Blue Jays manager John Schneider was respectful enough of the early season history the Tampa Bay Rays had made, bringing a 13-0 record to the Rogers Centre on Friday night for his team’s first meeting against a divisional opponent.
It is far too early for a statement game, but the Jays delivered a loud message just the same, crushing the Rays bid for baseball history with a convincing 6-3 win before 34,822 on another open-roof night at the downtown dome.
The result also provided a window into the competitive psyche of the Jays, who don’t see themselves as chasing anyone in baseball – undefeated or not – a point made emphatically by Schneider prior to the game.
And so they went about that business in methodical fashion, starting with five solid innings from troubled starter Jose Berrios, who was unable to continue after suffering a left-knee contusion. The injury was considered minor and Schneider said the righty won’t have to miss a start.
Berrios allowed four hits and one earned run while striking out six and was in control for most of the outing.
While respecting the start, the Jays clearly had a plan – and certainly weren’t blown away by what the Rays had done, especially against a mostly lightweight collection of opponents including the Tigers, Nationals, A’s and Red Sox.
“They played at home for quite a while and they play well there,” Schneider said. “You don’t want to say opponent has anything to do with it, because it is the major leagues … it’s such a game of repetition. It just gets contagious.
“It could go the opposite way starting tonight. Any little chink in the armour that shows up, you’ve got to take advantage of it.”
Publicly, the Jays weren’t going to put too much emphasis on one game. In an extremely competitive clubhouse, however, it was clear it meant more than just another mid-April game.
“Guys are excited to play big series,” Schneider said afterwards. “You pay attention to what the Rays did the first 13 games, but we’re solely focussed on winning the series.”
BREAKING DOWN BERRIOS
It had the makings of a critical outing for Berrios, an opportunity to find some success and get on a path towards being a meaningful contributor to the Toronto rotation.
“I honestly do think things are going to be fine,” Jays pitching coach Pete Walker said. “There are a lot of positives and it’s not like he’s lost his stuff.”
Walker is of the belief that what Berrios needs is a run of consistent success to get himself on track. To that end, it was at least in part a confidence-building move that prompted Schneider to take Berrios our of the game after five innings.
“He’s in a position where he needs not just one game, but three or four good ones and he can really start rolling. I think he’s in a better place than what the outside world realizes from a stuff standpoint.
Walker said the wild swings in form last season took a mental toll on the Puerto Rican right hander.
“There were so many ups and downs last year and that’s hard for anybody because one minute you feel you’ve got everything together and the next minute you’re struggling,” Walker said. “He’s been through a lot but he’s got thick skin and I think he’s really ready to contribute to this team.
‘He has been frustrated about the results so far, but I think he feels good about where he is.”
Undefeated opponent or not, apparently Berrios doesn’t mind facing the Rays at the Rogers Centre: In four career starts against them here, he has a 1.93 ERA over 23.1 innings, walking three while striking out 16.
GAME ON
Think this one meant much to Jays shortstop Bo Bichette, who merely went five-for-five at the plate? The first of those – a second-inning ground rule double was the 500th hit of his career. That made Bichette the fastest player in club history to reach that milestone, doing so in 407 games … As he does, George Springer led the game off in style with a solo home run to let the Jays jump out to an early lead. It was the 53rd leadoff homer of Springer’s career tying him with former Astro Craig Biggio (father of Cavan) for third most in MLB history … A pair of bases loaded walks, first from pinch-hitting Alejandro Kirk and then from Santiago Espinal led to a four-run fifth to give the Jays a commanding lead … Other than back-to-back home runs allowed by Yimi Garcia in the seventh, the Jays bullpen shut it down for Berrios. Canadian closer Jordan Romano finished it off with a 1-2-3 ninth to record the save, his fifth of the season.
