2021 Games Eighty-Nine and Ninety: Blue Jays 5, Rangers 0 (F/7), Blue Jays 10, Rangers 0 (F/7) (Doubleheader!)

 

Loving: the new look!

One could reasonably refer to the second half of today's doubleheader -- in which Steven Matz pitched admirably whilst four Blue Jays (Vladdy, Springer [back to back!], Grichuk, and Gurreil [grand slam!]) hit two-out homers -- as "a laugher," but by the time Mike Foltynewicz was pulled in the second inning having already allowed eight runs, I mostly felt sad about it. Baseball, in situations like this, is just brutal. The first game of the day, although won by a much slimmer margin, was uncomplicated by such concerns, and was about as much fun as I have had watching this truly remarkably fun team so far this season. To begin, Hyun-Jin Ryu seems to have taken the All-Star break as beard-starting opportunity, and the early returns are, I think, promising! I hope he sticks with it. He pitched about as well today as he has since he joined the team, what with the four hits throughout the seven innings that make up a complete game on days like this (at least for the rest of this year -- sounds like this doubleheader format will be done away with? I have honestly enjoyed it). When George Springer uncharacteristically misplayed a low-key tricky hop into a two-base error tacked onto a single with nobody out, Ryu just pitched his way out of it like it wasn't even remotely concerning, almost as though it wasn't even his affair, though of course it very much was. I've said before that Ryu is probably the most fun pitcher to watch in Blue Jays history for me, but I will add to that that I have come to feel that he may be, in his own way, maybe the most unostentatiously confident? Like not confident in a prickly, Dave Steib kind of way, or even in a visible-strain-of-focus Roy Halladay way, but confident with a genuine kind of ease, one that projects the inevitability of his own success. Maybe he's a total wreck inside, who knows, but the way it looks whenever things go poorly (which in fairness is not that often), he seems as legitimately easy about it as anybody I can think of, as though whatever just happened is probably not going to end up being a big deal because of what he is about to do next. It's worth seeing! 

Also of note today: Vladdy's defense, scooping a Bo Bichette throw out of the dirt, and later making the tag on a play where Santiago Espinal's throw pulled him off the bag towards home plate. Vladdy, as everyone who watches him play remarks, has an awful lot of fun playing baseball (it would be sad if he couldn't, given what he can do), but the part of his game that he looks proudest of are those scoops and tough plays at first, no doubt because they have been hard won, but also, I think, because it is a means of helping out his pals. 

Hey I just checked, and with these two wins and Oakland's loss, the Blue Jays are now only two-and-a-half out of the Wild Card. With seven games against Boston in the next ten, this will probably be their last chance to stay within sight of first place in the AL East, but they'd probably need to win five out of those seven to do it. This seems like a very tall task, but who can say? We just outscored Texas 25-2, so how hard can it be? Probably very! But things are looking up.

KS