CHICAGO — DeMarlo Hale clearly remembers the last time the Toronto Blue Jays matched a club record with 11 straight wins — Aug. 2-13 in 2015, after the club’s memorable trade deadline reinforcement — but the two other such streaks he’s been a part of are hazy.
“We had two in ’15?” the associate manager asked incredulously before being reminded of an 11-game run June 2-14, which started when Kevin Pillar took Max Scherzer deep twice for a 7-3 win in the nightcap of a doubleheader at the Washington Nationals. “I remember that game, that’s for sure, and us after the game saying, ‘Sometimes you’ve got to beat the aces.’”
The third 11-gamer was a fleeting period of joy during the misery of 2013, an unlikely run fuelled by two wins from starter Esmil Rogers, one from Chien-Ming Wang and one of only two Josh Johnson managed all season, as well as a walk-off victory over Baltimore keyed by a game-tying homer by Munenori Kawasaki.
“Did we go to New York?” Hale asked.
“Then I don’t remember,” he continued. “I’ll tell you what I do remember. Last year, we didn’t have a winning streak longer than five games (Aug. 22-26).”
Well, times have certainly changed, and the Blue Jays have a chance to match the team record for a sixth time overall — and fourth with Hale on the coaching staff — on Wednesday, after beating the Chicago White Sox 6-1 in a game shortened to six innings by rain Tuesday night.
Their 10th straight win was like so many others during the Blue Jays’ wider surge to a 54-38 mark that is a new team record for most wins before the all-star break, featuring a solid start, this time six crafty innings from Chris Bassitt, and another night of contributions across the lineup.
Eric Lauer, whose emergence has been vital to helping the Blue Jays bridge through 2½ months of Max Scherzer’s absence and Bowden Francis’ struggles, starts the finale at Rate Field against Adrian Houser, seeking a third straight series sweep.
And thanks to the unconventional complete game from Bassitt, the Blue Jays will finish a run of 16 games in 16 days with “every single person available” in a bullpen so heavily taxed last week.
“When you’re winning a lot of games, you’re using a lot of bullpen guys. That’s just kind of the price you pay,” said John Schneider. “Really, really good to keep Yariel (Rodriguez) out another day, (Jeff) Hoffman out another day, (Brendon) Little out another day, guys we’ve been asking a lot of. Everyone will be ready to go.”
Every such streak is driven by its own set of characteristics, and “the first thing that comes to my mind” about the current run “is our situational play,” said Hale. “We have been pretty good in situational moments, when the game is in that balance. If you talk to these guys, they talk about being in the moment, in the situation of the game. We’ve responded pretty well.”
There were plenty of examples on Tuesday.
Davis Schneider opened the scoring when he led off a five-run third with a solo shot before the Blue Jays went all pesky in pouring it on from there. George Springer worked a walk and then whizzed around the bases and made a smart turn at third that allowed him to score on Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s double down the left-field line. Bo Bichette followed with a single, and Guerrero wisely was held by third-base coach Carlos Febles, which paid off when Addison Barger banged with a double that made it 3-0. Alejandro Kirk’s liner to centre plated Bichette, but was hit too hard to score Barger, who crossed moments later when Joey Loperfido hit a chopper to first base.
White Sox starter Aaron Civale stemmed the damage there, but the Blue Jays kept the heat on, even if they didn’t cash in every time.
In the fourth, shortstop Colson Montgomery booted a Nathan Lukes grounder and he made a smart read on a Springer single to go first-to-third, although both ended up stranded.
In the fifth, Loperfido booted it up the line on a 57 m.p.h. chopper up the middle, forcing a bad throw by Miguel Rojas to earn himself a single. In the sixth, Lukes doubled and after a Springer walk, Guerrero lashed an RBI single to left and kept hustling through an Austin Slater bobble, forcing a good throw to get him trying to stretch at second.
Each of those plays is reflective of the club’s emphasis on making some contribution, whatever it may be, toward winning the game, on grinding at-bats, on running the bases and pairing that with solid starting pitching and strong defence, hallmarks of the club in recent years.
John Schneider “has also done a good job of managing his personnel and utilizing skill-sets — he understands how he’s going to use these guys,” said Hale. “And if you talk to the players, I think they’ve become, I don’t want to say comfortable, but they understand how they’re going to be used. They’re going to expect me to do this. The other underlying factor with us, John is playing everybody. Mixing and matching. And we’re executing at a high level.”
Now, every team preaches similar things — the Blue Jays have repeated many such mantras in each of the past three seasons — so it’s far easier said than done.
One of the reasons they believe it’s working for them this year, in comparison to a year ago, is the way the coaching staff and players communicate, something John Schneider had identified as an issue at the end of last year, before the off-season’s deep dives into what went wrong.
“I would say it’s been better this year,” Guerrero said through interpreter Hector Lebron. “Now, by the time we get to the hotel, we already know if we’re playing, if we’re not, the positions that we’re playing, so we know the way the next day is going to be. In that aspect, the communication is a little bit better.”
But so too is the way expectations are set, roles laid out and player desires managed.
The way the Blue Jays have run their roster — be it Lauer pitching in a host of roles before locking into the rotation, the demands on the bullpen or everyone from Ernie Clement, Lukes, Davis Schneider, Myles Straw and a host of others jumping into different positions and situations — demands a high degree of selflessness. Elite athletes are naturally inclined to believe they can do more, deserve more opportunity and everyone is making that work.
“The messaging is ‘do something to help the team win.’ This is what you’re asked to do,” Hale said of how the balance between team need and personal ambition is struck. “Guess what? A week from now, something happens and you might be asked to play more, to play every day. So keep your feet in the moment. It’s about this game. And that’s the message. You want them to have drive and be better and become everyday players and have long careers. We get it. We understand that. But this is what we’re asking you to do now. I know it sounds simple, but if you’re constant with it, they start to get it.”
Right now, the Blue Jays are more than just getting it; they’re living it to the tune of 10 straight wins, with the chance to make it another run of 11. This one, Hale is sure to remember.
NOTES: Nick Sandlin returned to the injured list Tuesday after experiencing soreness in his elbow Monday. The Blue Jays had wanted the right-hander to handle the ninth after he recorded two outs to escape an inherited game in the eighth, but “you could kind of tell with his body language and his response that it wasn’t great,” said John Schneider. “Wanted to see how he felt (Tuesday). It was kind of the same, if not a little bit worse in the forearm. And if he has a couple days down, off-day Thursday, you’re probably looking at one outing really in Sacramento that we’re counting on out of him, so wanted to play it a little bit safe from that standpoint. Hopefully he’s back soon.” … Bassitt threw only 78 pitches in his final start before the all-star break but he didn’t sound like someone ready to kick his feet up when he said, “We’ll see if I get a break.” Asked to clarify, he said “there are a lot of conversations, I’ll leave it at that. I’m obviously not going to start over any one of the guys that are starting, but I can be available, should be available. We have the game (Wednesday in Chicago), we have three games in Oakland, or I’ll always say Oakland (former home of the Athletics who are currently in Sacramento), if the bullpen kind of is completely worn out, I’m there. Whatever the team needs. Being a lower pitch count, there are ideas and everything else about how to get out of the all-star break. I feel really good right now so if the bullpen needs another day off, I’ll be available.”
