Blue Jays 3, Royals 0: Well Good!

 

more like Lathan Nukes

How pleasant for Nathan Lukes that, just one night after inadvertently ending a game through baserunning misadventure on the back-end of a two-run single (an ending I have never, ever seen before in a baseball game), his fourth-inning, three-run home run off of journeyman Randy Dobnak (whose name possess a certain Bobson Dugnutt charm [for the deepest of all possible dives on that subject, click here) proved the entirety of the difference between the Blue Jays and the Royals Wednesday night. Imagine his relief! About the whole thing! We did not hit all that much beyond that, though we didn't entirely need to, as it was yet another more-than-fine bullpen day (with Shane Bieber off to the IL for a while, joining so many of his colleagues there, bullpen days will continue indefinitely, it would seem). Actually, Arden Zwelling had some really great Bullpen Day Thoughts (which is more of less what the electronic pages of this blog have functioned as for most of this season) to share with this game's television (and "computer phones") audience: Zwelling noted that this was the Blue Jays' eighteenth bullpen day of the year, which is of course nuts, and that if you treated "Bullpen Day" as its own starting pitcher (which we know that it is not!), it would have outperformed all Blue Jays starter aside from AL Cy Young-contender Dylan Cease (whose work was recently featured at the AGO for good fun[d raising]). How about that? He noted, too, that the Blue Jays' coaching staff scripts no fewer than three possible paths along which any given bullpen day might unfold, and then print all of that out on sheets (perhaps little cards?) that they refer to throughout the game, which I liked the sound of a lot. Anyway, given where we are in the standings, every win is of course a big win at this point in the season, but the full weight of our need in tonight's game was impressed upon us even before first pitch, as the afternoon results out of Los Angeles revealed that the Guardians had come from behind for the second time in a row against the Angels to post their seventh consecutive win, which is altogether too many for my liking, especially given that the Blue Jays had lost three of four while a good portion of that objectively nifty streak was developing. We play the Guardians next week—in Cleveland, no less—in a series that, should we play well, will keep us very much in the mix going forward, and if we crash out, could functionally end September baseball (as we like to think of it) in the very first week of that oft-rad baseball month. But, first, we need to stay close throughout the rest of this week for next week to even matter, in that way. No pressure though, guys! Let's keep it loose out there! Keep up the chatter, fellows! That's the way! 

KS