Call it wishful thinking after a dramatic come-from-behind win that rode a full range of emotions — from disheartening, to desperate, to excruciating and ultimately exhilaration.
“I just think we’re playing our game of baseball,” Bassitt began in an impassioned soliloquy of his team’s DNA. “I know there’s been a lot of talk about hitting … We’re the best pitching staff in the big leagues and then we play, I think, the best defence in the big leagues.
“I think the hitting side of it all, the story of our hitters not being great, is skewed. I just think we’ve got to get multiple guys hot, that’s what makes great offences.
Of course, those who follow, manage, micro manage and play for the Blue Jays have been waiting for it all season.
And had enough of those hitters arrived earlier on Saturday, extra innings would not have been necessary against a lightweight version of the Red Sox.
But perhaps Bassitt is right. Recent post-seasons have shown us that shut-down pitching can take teams to a deep and prosperous post-season run.
“We have four or five different guys that can easily do that.
“I’ve seen it,” Bassitt said. “If you don’t have pitching, you don’t have a chance. If you don’t play defence, you don’t have a chance. We have both. And then it’s just get the right hitters hot at the right time. It’s literally a three to four week stretch of what hitters can carry who.”
As it has long been wished for, a potential revival starts with Vlad Guerrero Jr., whose solo homer in the seventh inning was his third long ball in as many games. It’s just the fourth time in his career that Guerrero has gone deep three consecutive and the first since 2021.
“What Vladdy’s done the last couple of days is a big boost,” said extra-innings hero. Merrifield. “Hitting is contagious, so hopefully a spark like that will get somebody else going and we can roll these last 13 games.”
There were other signs of life on Saturday, though it took a while, given that Red Sox starter Chris Sale was mowing down Jays hitters through the first six innings.
There was Daulton Varsho’s RBI triple in the ninth to force extras, one that included a highlight-reel celebration at the bag.
There were rocket blasts from Bo Bichette and Davis Schneider in the 10th that found gloves rather than turf. And then there was Merrifield’s winner, a little lucky perhaps, but high on the clutch meter.
“Usually you kind of know when you have a swinging bunt,” Merrifield said of his first walk-off winner since 2019. “I had a feeling that it was a good chance nobody was going to throw me out.”
Manager John Schneider is well aware that more is needed from his offence but also knows that with 13 games remaining, a flawed win is as significant as a dynamic one.
“And then a swinging bunt wins it. That’s baseball sometimes.
“A win is a win at this point. That’s a tough game to lose either way. You need breaks sometimes, especially in games like that ”
The Jays need them now, mainly because they have played themselves into a position of chasing rather than being chased. But taking the first two against Boston set up an opportunity to move back into the third AL wild-card spot, pending how Seattle fared against the Los Angeles Dodgers on the West Coast late Saturday night.
There were so many twists and turns in this one that perhaps it stands as a preview of more drama to unfold over the final two weeks of the season.
And in the bigger picture, perhaps the Bassitt bravado may eventually prove to be bang on, even if it is a development the team has been forecasting for months. Guerrero is certainly a potential trigger for any offence, Bichette is getting back up to speed and who knows, maybe George Springer’s bat will come around one of these days?
But for now, the Jays will take a huge, if fortuitous, triumph and see where it might take them.
“Our pitching is going to be able to keep us in every game,” Bassitt told the Toronto Sun earlier in the week. “I think we have the team, not to just get in the playoffs, but hopefully make a long run.
“We have the pitching to give us a chance every day.”
AROUND THE BASES
Don’t look now, but a team that is playing its final 15 games against the AL East has now won seven of its past 10 against divisional opponents … Bassitt reached career highs in games started (31) and innings (186.2) with Saturday’s seven innings of work.
