2023 Game Fifty-Eight: Blue Jays 3, Mets 0

 

a man with other things to attend to

It was a weird one for Chris Bassitt, making his first start against the Mets since no longer being one of them (you may well recall it), in that his wife went into labour back home in Toronto just before the game. I don't know who exactly determined it, but it was determined (one assumed by all parties) that Bassitt would pitch, and fly back not just right after, but like super right after. And he pitched like a guy with somewhere else to be: three hits and no walks against eight strikeouts in seven-and-two-thirds. It was awesome! The only scoring came on Springer's leadoff homerun (or indeed dinger), and Varsho's fairly monstrous two-run shot in the ninth. There was a real focus and intensity to this one, though I hesitate to call it "a playoff feel" because it did not drown me in anxious sorrow, but instead was a lot of fun. 

KS