Adedokun Waliyu 
At this rate, Blue Jays starter Jose Berrios is well on his way to having his best year in the big leagues, part of an impressive turnaround from a tumultuous 2022.
For that reason and more, the right hander appeared rather ticked when he got the hook after 5.2 innings on Saturday afternoon at Fenway Park and his team leading the Boston Red Sox, 4-3.
But the message is clear by now that Jays manager John Schneider is going to ride the matchups afforded to him with a strong and versatile bullpen at his disposal.
Wounded feelings to his brilliant starter aside, the managerial move looked masterful as the Jays won for the second day in a row at Fenway, downing their division rivals with what turned out to be a nail-biting 5-4 win.
After Berrios stomped off the mound, recently acquired reliever Genesis Cabrera calmly came in and struck out Rob Refsnyder to end the threat. From there, it was part bullpen brilliance and part good fortune as the Jays survived another near-wild ending at the famed Fenway.
First, the brilliance as Yimi Garcia pitched a 1-2-3 seventh followed by lefty Tim Mayza delivering four big outs.
Then came so Erik Swanson drama in a game that almost ended in a Red Sox walk off instead died on a catch at the wall by Kevin Kiermaier and a base-running blunder from former Jay Reese McGuire, who thought a Connor Wong belt was sailing out of the park and started jogging home. Instead, Kiermaier relayed it back to second for the embarrassing third out and ball game it was.
So it was mostly an impressive display by the reliever group given that closer Jordan Romano is still on the injured list and new late-inning guy, Jordan Hicks, was presumably unavailable.
It also reinforced how impressive the Jays bullpen has been in helping the team to a 62-50 record.
And Saturday’s was a big one, wrapping up a series win against the Red Sox, who had won the first seven meetings between the AL East rivals this season but have now dropped two in a row. It also allowed the Jays – winners of eight of their previous 13 – to move four games up on the Sox in the AL wildcard race.
Perhaps a burden was relieved as well as the Jays snapped a run of seven consecutive series defeats at the hands of division opponents.
Back to Berrios, who deserves some credit for yet another strong start, allowing six hits and three runs while striking out six. The only damage on the night was a three-run homer allowed in the fourth and the right-hander’s ERA now sits at 3.38, the lowest in his career.
In his past 17 starts (dating back to May 6), Berrios has gone 7-4 with a tidy 2.73 ERA and in 18 of his 23 starts this season has held opponents to three earned runs or fewer.
With a bullish bullpen as backup, it’s becoming a potent pitching mix for the Jays.
Daulton Varsho of the Toronto Blue Jays tracks down a long fly ball in center field off the bat of Connor Wong #12 of the Boston Red Sox during the fifth inning at Fenway Park on August 5, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts.
Another day in the big leagues, another big day at the plate for Davis Schneider who is scripting as good a feel-good story as they come.
After hitting a homer in his first career at-bat, Schneider went 3-for-4 with a walk on Saturday and through two games in the majors is hitting a ridiculous .625 (five for eight.) While such production is obviously not sustainable, Schneider has shown some solid versatility with an infield single, another blasted up the middle and one slashed to right field among his early knocks.
Schneider is the first Jay to record multiple hits in each of his first two career games since Aaron Hill in 2005 and is the fifth player in team history to do so. As well, the upstart infielder joined Lloyd Moseby (in 1980) as the only other Jay to record five hits, including a homer in their first two MLB games.
About the last thing the Jays need right now is Danny Jansen being sidelined, particularly given that he’s flashing the most consistent power in his career. But less than an hour prior to Saturday’s first pitch, the Jays catcher was a late scratch with inflammation in his right wrist.
If Jansen, who is the Jays’ most steady man behind the plate, is out for a sustained period it will be a big blow to a team already without shortstop Bo Bichette.
