Blue Jays escape Bronx Zoo with much-needed win

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Their collective backs against the wall knowing a six-game losing streak was only three outs away, the Jays may have saved their season.

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Granted, the season is only in late April, but given the team’s futility at the plate and the fragility that accompanies any extended slump, Friday night was as close to a must win as it gets.

After giving up the go-ahead run in an eighth inning that featured a bloop double that should have been caught had George Springer gone forward and not backward in centrefield, a walk and a hit batter, the Jays exploded in the ninth.

Springer made amends by leading off the decisive three-run frame with a single. After Andres Gimenez was hit by a pitch from closer Devin Williams, Alejandro Kirk, whose night included gunning down two Yankees base-runners at second in the fifth inning, produced the game’s key hit — a two-run double that would give the Jays a 3-2 lead en route to a 4-2 victory.

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It was quite the game and quite the comeback for the Jays, who would post their biggest win of the season in improving to 13-13.

The following are three takeaways on a night when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his first homer on the road, a line-drive rocket into the deepest part in Yankee Stadium that traveled an estimated 412 feet, a night Jeff Hoffman recorded his sixth save, while Mason Fluharty earned his first career win.

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1. Cookie monster

Veteran Carlos Carrasco is affectionately known as Cookie, a veteran who took a 6.53 ERA into Friday night’s start.

The way Toronto’s bats have performed, he was viewed as the perfect elixir to cure all that ails the offence.

As it turned out, Carrasco did his part in going five complete innings.

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Of the three hits yielded, only one went for extra bases, a leadoff double to Addison Barger in the fifth inning.

Toronto opened the scoring in the sixth inning when Tim Hill surrendered a solo blast to Vlad Jr., who led off the frame.

Carrasco’s counterpart, Jose Berrios, pitched around some tenuous situations across 5.1 innings.

Both starters were good, but neither figured in the outcome on a night that turned into a battle of the bullpens.

2. Beasts of the AL East

Toronto’s weekend set in the Bronx is its first of the season.

To date, the Jays have played fellow AL East rivals Baltimore and Boston, at home and on the road, compiling a 6-4 record.

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Toronto opened the season at home by splitting a four-game set against the Orioles.

In Baltimore, the teams earned a split when one of the three games was postponed due to rain.

Toronto took three of four at Fenway and will play host to the Bosox next week.

Having lost five in a row entering Friday, the Jays’ stay in the Big Apple must be viewed as the most critical series of the season, until the next meaningful series rolls around.

By far, the Jays’ most dramatic and entertaining series of the early season have been against their divisional rivals, as it should be.

Friday was no exception.

In a power versus power matchup, the Jays summoned Yimi Garcia out of the pen to face Aaron Judge in a 1-1 game, one on and two outs in the home half of the seventh.

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Garcia fell behind 3-0 before a called strike made it 3-1.

His fifth pitch was a ball as the Yankees had runners at first and second.

A fly ball caught in foul territory would end the inning.

3. Bichette’s D merits an A

Perhaps the days of Bo Bichette being a liability at shortstop are over, a perplexing defender who was known for turning the routine play into an adventure.

He entered Friday night by committing two errors, both playing out on the road when the Jays were in Boston and later in Baltimore.

Once Andres Gimenez was acquired, many felt his presence would one day replace Bichette at short.

The middle of the infield has been good and the Jays’ defence up the middle will only get better once Daulton Varsho gets the green light to resume playing in centrefield.

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Bichette led off the game with a solid single.

Defensively, he made a clean play in the hole and threw a decisive fastball over to first to beat out the runner.

He has yet to hit a home run.

Kirk’s defence behind the plate has been A+.

His framing is well documented.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Kirk’s arm strength was on full display when he threw out two runners attempting to steal second base.

As fate would have it, he led off the seventh and reached base on a single to right field, the Jays’ fifth hit on the night.

In getting swept in Houston, the Jays produced a total of four hits in the opening two games of a three-game series.

Up next

Game 2 in the weekend series is a Saturday matinee, weather permitting, pitting Max Fried vs. Kevin Gausman; Fried brings a 4-0 record and an equally sterling 1.42 ERA to the bump; combined, the two have recorded 56 strikeouts this season; Gausman pitched in New York earlier this season when the Jays went up against the Mets.

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