BALTIMORE – With five consecutive series against American League East rivals, the Toronto Blue Jays are unofficially entering the home stretch of their season.
A strong two weeks could put some real distance between the Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox. A poorly timed slump could upend the divisional standings completely.
In that context, Marco Estrada‘s bounce-back start came at the perfect time for the Blue Jays, now 75-56 after winning their series opener 5-1 against the Orioles. Not only does Estrada’s performance allow the Blue Jays to build a 4.0-game lead over third-place Baltimore in the standings, it re-establishes confidence in a pitcher coming off consecutive outings of five-plus earned runs.
“He was like his old self,” manager John Gibbons said. “Good change-up, hitting his spots, breaking balls I thought tonight were pretty good.”
Estrada put together the kind of outing that earned him an All-Star appearance this summer, neutralizing an Orioles lineup that included plenty of power even on a night Adam Jones rested a sore hamstring. The right-hander’s off-speed pitches were particularly effective, as he held Baltimore to one run on four hits in seven-plus innings while striking out four. The only blemish: a third inning solo home run by J.J. Hardy.
Catcher Russell Martin called for Estrada’s curve early and soon noticed Orioles hitters were taking it for strikes. That prompted even more curves from Estrada, who had been bouncing his change-up and struggling to locate his fastball in recent starts.
“I think I just had better feel for pitches (Monday),” Estrada said. “I was able to throw every pitch around the plate.”
“It felt good being out there,” he added. “It felt much better than the last two starts.”
On a night the Blue Jays’ bullpen was short-handed, Estrada’s innings were even more valuable. After using Jason Grilli and Roberto Osuna in back-to-back games over the weekend, Gibbons turned to his next line of relievers. Rookie Joe Biagini relieved Estrada in the eighth, and stranded Hardy at first. Joaquin Benoit then closed things out with a perfect ninth.
While Blue Jays hitters didn’t manage much offence against Baltimore starter Wade Miley, Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista each hit solo home runs. A two-run rally in the ninth inning sparked by Melvin Upton Jr. and Kevin Pillar gave the Toronto some welcome breathing room.
Donaldson’s home run, his 34th of a season that’s been every bit as productive as his MVP campaign, came one day after he hit a career-high three homers at Rogers Centre.
“When he’s doing his thing it makes such a big difference for this team,” Gibbons said. “What can you say, man. The last few years he’s come into his own as one of the top dogs out there.”
Meanwhile, Bautista had shown signs of breaking out offensively, reaching base eight times in his first four games back from the disabled list.
“I think he’s going to have a big month,” Gibbons said before the game. “That’d be really good for us.”
Bautista responded with his first home run since returning from the disabled list last week, his 16th on the season.
Most importantly, though, the Blue Jays got a vintage performance from a pitcher they’ll need down the stretch.
“Every game’s going to count,” Estrada said. “It’s great to get that first one out of the way, but we’ve got to keep it going.”