Blue Jays Alone In First In AL East After Exhilarating Four-game Sweep Of New York Yankees

It’s almost certain that there will be a time this season when the Blue Jays go through a lull in form — and as unlikely as it seems given the blissful recency bias — a losing streak.

But when it comes, what happened over the past four fantastical days at the Rogers Centre will carry fuel for the remainder of what is shaping up as a riveting summer of baseball in the city.

Led by George Springer, the first superstar signed to build a winner in this iteration of the Jays, the good times are rolling and electrifying the downtown dome like it hasn’t been in several seasons.

Springer banged out a pair of home runs on Thursday night — his team-leading 14th and 15th — to lead the Jays to a thrilling 8-5 victory over the New York Yankees, dusting off the former division leader in a four-game sweep.

And just like that, a Toronto team that trailed the Bronx Bombers by eight games at the end of May is all alone in first in the American League East.

“It’s been a great series for a variety of different reasons and lot of different guys,” manager John Schneider said. “And it’s been cool to do it here at home, Canada Day included. Just really, really proud of these guys. It’s nice to be where we are.”

Where they are, of course, is atop the division for the first time this late in the season since 2016. Dial up your favourite superlative and marvel at the confidence the team is playing with, a boost that undoubtedly will help them through both the rollicking times and the rough ones still to come.

“I think it’s tough to play as consistently well as we have been, and there could be a natural letdown tomorrow, after a big four game series against the Yankees,” Schneider said of what elt like the biggest four-game run of success in his time at the help. “These guys have demonstrated time after time that they really don’t give a (crap.) They’ve done it inning by inning, day by day, game by game. They’re really good at moving on.”

And moving on up, thanks to the current five-game winning streak – matching a season high – that has been the talk of the baseball world and almost outrageous in its scope and impact.

It has been an impressive rise for a Blue Jays team that has put aside a laggardly start and moved on to be one of the most prolific offensively as they’ve piled up wins. Their 23-10 record since May 28 is the best in the big leagues and it has paid off.

As a result, this upstart group has won 49 games through their first 87 contests of a season for the first time since … drumroll please: 1993.

In putting up eight runs on Thursday, the Jays improved to 36-3 when scoring five runs or more, the best record in the majors with that proviso. They finished off a four-game sweep of the Yankees for just the third time in franchise history but the first at home. And they did it with big-time performances around the diamond.

There was Springer belting out a two-run homer in the third and another two-run shot in the eighth to put up two precious insurance runs to bring the crowd of 36,848 to its feet. Springer’s unlikely surge at age 35 has him easily on pace for the most homers in his Jays career, topping the 25 he hit in 2022.

“George is a big time player when he’s at his best, and likes moments like that,” Schneider summarized.

There was Bam Bam Addison Barger with another homer and a pair of doubles, power that continues to play for the Jays. Barger now has 11 homers in 63 games, one fewer than Vlad Guerrero Jr., who has played 86.

“It’s a guy coming into his own,” the manager said.

There was starter Chris Bassitt, who may not have had his best stuff but summoned the will to deliver 5.2 innings and 117 pitches on a day when the Toronto bullpen was desperately thin.

“He loves those spots,” Schneider said. “Really gutsy performance from Chris tonight.”

Late in the game, there was lefty reliever Justin Bruihl in to face Cody Bellinger with the Jays leading 6-5, two out in eighth and Aaron Judge on first after being granted an intentional walk. Bruihl got the strikeout after falling behind 2-0. A series laced with drama had its latest unlikely moment.

Earlier, there was Nathan Lukes who finished an epic 14-pitch at-bat in the fourth inning that scored a pair of runs to give the Jays a 5-3 lead.

And then to finish things off closer Jeff Hoffman, making his fourth appearance in five days, finished it off with a scoreless ninth to earn the save. It was the type of performance Schneider has been getting from all over his lineup throughout the impressive stretch that has boosted their record to 49-38, a formidable season-best 11 games over .500.

Schneider is almost in awe of what Springer is doing and how in some ways he’s the leader of the multi-faceted attack.

“He’s on a great run,” Schneider said of the four-homer series, a stunner if you would have predicted it a year ago. “The series he had is what he can do. He can put on on his back and carry you. I’m never going to count George Springer out of anything until he hangs up his cleats.”

The record – and the current five-game winning streak – doesn’t guarantee anything, of course, but besides some confidence and believe, it affords an opportunity to breathe, a nice luxury to have just past the midway point of a 162-game season.

“It gives you a little bit of an ability to exhale and take a deep breath,” Schneider said of the mindset in an exhilarated clubhouse these days. “What I love about this stretch is that there’s so many things we can fall back on when you hit a rough patch and we’ll get back on track.

“There’s going to be another one or two tough parts in the year, that’s just how it goes when you’re playing every day. But we can do things a different way every night and I think that makes it sustainable. I’m just proud of the way they can move forward after good things and bad.”