Jays get complete effort in series-winner against Cubs

Globe and Mail

2 days ago

Max Scherzer sailed along quite nicely on Thursday if not for one pitch to the Cubs' Michael Busch, who launched it over the fence in the sixth inning to give Chicago a 1-0 lead.
An inning later, as he sat in the home team's dugout at Rogers Centre, the future Hall of Famer was filled with angst. And hope.
'We are not going to lose this game on a solo shot,' Scherzer told himself. 'Somebody is going to come through.'
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A short time later, with Davis Schneider on base, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. deposited a hanging curveball into the left-field stands. His 20th home run of the season came on an 0-2 count and delivered a 2-1 victory.
'It was a great at-bat,' Guerrero said. 'I was behind and fighting.'
Toronto heads into a weekend series at home against Texas on Friday with a healthy lead in the American League East Division.
'We are trying to win every series regardless of who we are playing,' Guerrero said outside the team's clubhouse. The Blue Jays took two out of three from the Cubs.
There were plots and subplots to this one, including a chaotic eighth inning where things nearly went badly awry for Toronto.
Scherzer was pulled after giving up a double to start the eighth. The Blue Jays brought in left-hander Brendon Little who baffles batters and his own catchers with a wicked knuckle curve.
First, Little walked pinch-hitter Seiya Suzuki. Then he threw an extremely wild pitch after Ian Happ had missed on two bunt attempts.
'Little has such good stuff that he is hard to hit and hard to block,' manager John Schneider said, only half-joking.
With runners on second and third and none out, Little then struck out Happ and Kyle Tucker on knuckle curves that bobbed, dipped and weaved like a roller coaster at Canada's Wonderland. Then Seranthony Dominguez entered and blew Carson Kelly away with a 98.3 mile per hour fastball to end the threat.
The sellout crowd at Rogers Centre was raucous when Guerrero hit his blast; it was thunderous after Little and Dominguez worked out of the jam.
'We know Little can do it,' Scherzer said. 'When he does it puts a smile on your face.'
Jeff Hoffman struck out three in the ninth to earn his 27th save. In all, the bullpen struck out six of the last seven batters.
'That is who they are,' Guerrero said. 'They do what they are supposed to do and we are very happy about it.'
Scherzer improved to 3-2 in a start that saw him give up just the one run and five hits with three strikeouts in seven innings. The more you watch him the more clear it becomes how he has won three Cy Young awards.
'Two thumbs up,' Schneider said.
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The Cubs made solid contact against Scherzer early on but did no damage. In the second inning Davis Schneider made a diving catch in left field, spoiling rookie Owen Caissie's first major league at-bat.
Caissie, who is considered Chicago's top prospect, is from nearby Burlington and was called up from the minors before the game.
He lined the ball to left and it appeared destined to get between Schneider and centrefielder Myles Straw.
'I thought he had no shot at catching it,' Schneider said. 'As I watched the route he was taking I said, 'Okay, it's going to be a double.'
'It was a highlight-reel catch.'
Said Scherzer: 'One of the best plays of the year.'
At the beginning Toronto struggled at the plate against Chicago left-hander Matthew Boyd. They got only one ball out of the infield in the first three innings – a single by catcher Tyler Heineman – but that was negated immediately by a double play.
That was its only baserunner through five innings. Between the two teams, they had a combined two hits as they headed to the sixth.
Then Busch put the Cubs ahead 1-0 with a home run to right-centre field with one out in the sixth. It was his 24th of the year.
That provided the backdrop for the heroics for Guerrero and the bullpen and a hysterical finish.