Where did this Blue Jays offence come from?

New York Times

a day ago

TORONTO — Most nights, Brent Rooker's fifth-inning double would've been a death sentence for the Toronto Blue Jays. It pushed two Athletics runners around the bases to score the A's fourth and fifth runs of the contest.
Besting five runs would've been unfathomable for Toronto last week. It didn't score more than two runs on a six-game trip to the Tampa Bay Rays and the Texas Rangers, averaging just one score per contest. On the year, the Jays were just 4-21 when allowing four or more runs — until Friday.
Advertisement
The Blue Jays could've let up plenty more than five runs against the Athletics and still coasted to victory. Toronto's lineup battered baseballs for a second straight night, beating the Athletics 11-7 to move above .500, at 29-28. The Jays have scored 23 total runs in their last 18 innings against the A's — more runs in the two games than they've totalled in any series all season.
Yes, the offensive explosion came against an Athletics team that entered the series with a 5.49 team ERA, third worst in baseball. Yes, the Jays tacked on hits against rookie relievers and position players. But those are the moments when good lineups put up sideways totals — the kind of games the Blue Jays' bats need to take advantage of.
Before facing Toronto, Jeffrey Springs allowed two homers and four runs to the Philadelphia Phillies, the National League's top team. It was his worst start of May, after allowing just four total runs across the previous four outings. His start against the Jays could've been a classic rebound outing. Instead, Toronto chased him after two frames, scoring six runs off the starter.
'We did a very, very good job against the starting pitching,' manager John Schneider said. 'Made them work, got them out of the game early. Usually, when you do that, good things happen. So it starts with kind of not taking a while to get into the flow of the game.'
The Blue Jays had 39 hard-hit balls across the two outings, but the key to the offence was swing decisions. The Athletics threw 336 pitches in the first two games, and Toronto's batters chased on just 22 of them, resulting in 16 walks. The Blue Jays entered the series against the Athletics with the eighth-highest chase rate in baseball, 28.9 percent. In two games against the A's, it was just 18 percent, which would be the lowest in MLB by 7 percentage points.
Advertisement
'I think they're just putting together really good at-bats,' starter Chris Bassitt said. 'Drawing walks and just kind of like passing that baton.'
It's easier to take walks against Jeffrey Springs than Jacob deGrom, but that kind of complete offensive performance hasn't been a given for Toronto against weaker opponents this year. This is the same Jays team that got shut out by a Rangers bullpen game earlier this week. A similar lineup to the one that tallied one score against the Houston Astros' Ryan Gusto in April and couldn't push a run across against New York Yankees vet Carlos Carrasco, who has since been designated for assignment.
As Kevin Gausman noted last week, the Blue Jays have played to the level of their opponents at times this year, good and bad. Against the Athletics' suspect pitching, the Blue Jays separated themselves.
We've seen blips like this before. Toronto's bats got hot at the Seattle Mariners and beat down a scuffling San Diego Padres team earlier this month. It's not about sustaining an 11.5 run-per-game pace, it's proving they can take advantage of scuffling pitching. In the first two games against the Athletics, Toronto did just that.
(Photo of Myles Straw: Mark Blinch / Getty Images)