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| Vladdy: got another one |
Would we agree that defeating the Tampa Bay Rays 8-1 is more impressive, and indeed way more impressive, than clobbering the poor Orioles 22-7? I say this because the Rays, through unparalleled drafting and development, canny use of analytics, and ruthless exploitation of the collective bargaining agreement, are pretty clearly the best team in the American League (virtually all that occurs in the National League, in this our long post-Expos nightmare, is little more than rumour to me), whereas the Orioles do not really excel at any of those things just now mentioned, and look like they will have a really rough time for the foreseeable future (please spare a thought, once more, for the plight of young Cedric Mullins). Alek Manoah's slider was absolutely vanishing on dudes to such an extent that replay footage of those same dudes, having swung overtop those sliders, could be seen uttering minor curses and oaths in super slow motion. Eight innings, one hit, ten strikeouts, nary a walk. I have since read that this is the first time a Blue Jays pitcher has done this precise thing, heavy emphasis on the "no walks" part of it I think. As to the bats, the lovely four-run fourth inning rally is really all we needed: with one out, the Blue Jays went Téo single (five-for-five on the night!), Kirk single, Gurriel Jr. single, Grichuk double just fair down the third-base line (go Randal; go Randal), Valera single. Did we need Bo Bichette's fifth-inning home run on an absurdly low breaking ball (the second-lowest pitch to go for a homer this season, it turns out)? Or Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s forty-fifth (Ohtani-passing, Dadimir-Guerrero-single-season exceeding) home run an inning after that? Strictly speaking we did not, no, and yet at the same time, they added so much. Who knows how any of this ends (and sort of also who cares?), but what's happening right now feels perfectly unparalleled in my time of Attending to Baseball Generally and to The Toronto Blue Jays Specifically (there is perfect overlap between these two things), and it turns out this is statistically true, as Buster Olney notes (crediting the Elias Sports Bureau): "The Blue Jays have 36 HR and are batting .331 in 13 games in September. They are the first team in modern MLB history to hit 36+ HR and bat .330 or better over any 13-game span." If there are young Blue Jays baseball fans in your life, please take the time to explain to them, preferably in the kitchen (it seems the right place to say it), that not only has this never happened before, it will never happen again, so let's just hang out here for as long as we're able and have a nice time.
Another truly wonderful night of baseball, which occurred, much to my surprise, in Toronto: it is next week that the Blue Jays play three in Tampa before heading to Minnesota for the weekend; it is this week that the Blue Jays host both teams. We at Baseball Feelings regret the error.
The Yankees walked the Twins off yesterday afternoon (I had the Minnesota radio call on my phone yesterday afternoon, and Byron Buxton's Sheboygan Sausage/Bratwurst advertisement is unreal; I will endeavour to find it online and share it with the class), which is a shame, but the Red Sox fell apart late (very late!) in Seattle last night after an untimely Kyle Schwarber error at first, so the Blue Jays are clear of both teams by a full game for now. Schwarber, interestingly, has been a topic of conversation of several of the old FanGraph Audio's I have been listening to lately, circa 2015 now, as I work my way back. The bat would play, Dave Cameron speculated in response to Carson Cistulli's queries, but where might one ask him to stand? A question no less pressing despite the years.
José Berríos on the hill tonight!
KS
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