Blue Jays 2, Yankees 0: George Springer Turnt? (What Else?)

 

unc: still got it? not yet chopped? 

"Here we goooooo," George Springer could be heard to remark as he made his way down the tunnel from the dugout to the clubhouse not that long after his seventh-inning solo home run gave the Blue Jays what felt like at the time, and indeed proved to be, a nice little cushion (how pleasant!). "Put 'Janice' on," he continued. "Put it on!" And why wouldn't they? Why wouldn't we? (Outside is, after all, back to what it was.) Hey the Blue Jays won in the Bronx on a bullpen day! You may recall that the last time that happened, it was pretty cool! This time the stakes were a little lower—a four-game split in May, rather than an ALDS clincher in October—but there were similar pleasures to be found all the same. This time, the Blue Jays pitching staff combined for a three-hit, three-walk shutout, visiting the golden sombrero (four strikeouts in a single game, an ignoble feat) upon Jazz Chisholm Jr. a night after that same dark plight had been visited upon no less stalwart a figure than Aaron Judge (quite possibly the greatest right-handed hitter there has ever been, by the numbers [the numbers are weighted-runs-created-plus]). The Blue Jays' runs came early (a first-inning double from the streaking Daulton Varsho, scoring Vladdy [who had stolen a base! let's go!]) and late (George Springer's aforementioned seventh-inning dinger), and in between we didn't really have all that much going, I suppose, aside from Ernie Clement's three doubles (each of them quite strange, in their own way). Vladdy is possibly breaking out of it, a little? Two walks, a hit, a run scored, a stolen base? I feel like he is two-homers-in-the-same-series away from just totally putting this behind him, but unfortunately it is pretty hard to hit any homers at all, even for Vladdy sometimes. Back home to face the Pirates, next! That never happens! Pittsburgh's Paul Skenes day (Saturday) lines up with our Patrick Corbin day (also Saturday, the astute reader will already have determined), and weirdly, I am into it; this is a dare-to-be-great moment for Patrick Corbin and his five innings (like it or not). 

KS