Pitching? Defense? Yes, these dominant Blue Jays are 'a little bit different'
The story of the first two games of this American League Division Series seems simple enough at first glance: The Toronto Blue Jays have pounded the Texas Rangers into submission with six home runs to take a 2-0 lead.
The reality is a bit more complex than that, and so are this year’s Blue Jays.
Despite fielding a lineup featuring such accomplished sluggers as Josh Donaldson, Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista, it wasn’t the offense – inconsistent for much of the season – that carried Toronto to its second postseason appearance in a row after a 22-year absence.
Instead, it was a rotation that registered the best starters’ ERA in the American League (3.64) that did the heavy lifting, supported by a superior defense. Both have played their part in bringing the Blue Jays to the verge of advancing to the next round as the series shifts to Canada, and their presence bodes well for Toronto’s chances of making a deep October run.
“Our team this year is a little bit different than last year, where we kind of just outslugged some teams,’’ said center fielder Kevin Pillar, who had the third-most defensive runs saved in the majors this season and homered in Friday’s 5-3 victory over Texas at Globe Life Park.
“We still have the ability to do that, but we understand that if we’re able to push a couple of runs across, our starting pitching is so good, it’s so deep, and our bullpen is really good. We can win games in a variety of different ways.’’
Toronto starters Marco Estrada and J.A. Happ combined to hold Texas to two runs in 13 1/3 innings to prevent the Blue Jays from ever trailing in the first two games. By comparison, their opposite numbers– Cole Hamels and Yu Darvish – yielded 12 runs (11 earned) in 8 1/3 innings, major factors in Texas falling into early holes.
And the task doesn’t get any easier for the Rangers, who will have to contend with AL ERA leader Aaron Sanchez in Sunday’s Game 3 at the Rogers Centre.
It wouldn’t seem likely for a club that lost David Price to free agency in the offseason to improve its pitching, but Sanchez’s evolution into an All-Star, Happ’s career-best season and Estrada’s steady contributions helped lower the rotation’s ERA by a third of a run from 2015, when it ranked fifth at 3.96.
Their pitching is deep enough they’ve had the luxury of moving Francisco Liriano to the bullpen and leaving R.A. Dickey off the ALDS roster. Liriano was diagnosed with a mild concussion Saturday after getting hit in the head by a line drive off the bat of Carlos Gomez the previous day, and was removed from the ALDS roster. He was replaced by right-hander Danny Barnes.
The Blue Jays have also benefited from not granting the opposition too many extra outs. With outstanding defenders like Pillar, third baseman Josh Donaldson and shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, the Blue Jays ranked fourth in the league in Ultimate Zone Rating, up from ninth the year before.
Manager John Gibbons said Tulowitzki’s arrival in a July 2015 trade not only upgraded the Jays’ defense right away but changed the dynamic of the team.
“He makes that (play) in the 5-6 hole on the move with the flip down here as good as anybody,’’ Gibbons said. “I’ve never seen anybody make that many. And his throws are money.’’
On Friday it was Donaldson and Pillar who contributed plays that kept the Rangers from overcoming the 5-1 margin Toronto built with a barrage of four homers off Darvish.
In the seventh inning, with one out and speedy Ian Desmond at third, Donaldson opted against taking the easy out at first on an Adrian Beltre chopper and fired home to barely nab the sliding Desmond. The call was upheld on replay.
The next inning, Pillar rushed in and made a sliding catch of a soft liner by Elvis Andrus after Mitch Moreland led off with a double. The play proved critical in keeping the Rangers’ rally in the eighth to two runs.
Pillar, who has seen a change in the club’s culture from when he first arrived in 2013 to the last two years, said some of the players who had never been through the playoffs are benefitting from last October’s experience. They’re calmer, he said, aware that once you get into the division series, one loss does not end your season.
“You just go out there and compete and you try to play the same way you’ve done all year,’’ he said. “We try to have fun. We try to stay loose. We play aggressive. We don’t look over our shoulder. And I think a lot of that has to do with experiencing it for the first time last year.’’