Jays' offence explodes in unlikely comeback: "That's what we've been missing"
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The Toronto Blue Jays got a jolt from their bats in a big way in a come-from-behind victory over the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday.
The win could only be described by manager John Schneider as "what we've been missing."
Toronto faced a familiar situation in the midst of a long slump: their pitching struggled out of the gate, and the team fell behind 6-0 by the middle of the sixth inning.
Given the lack of offensive production recently - the team had failed to score more than four runs in 11 consecutive games - it would've been easy to chalk up another mark in the loss column.
“That was really good, man. I’m just so impressed and proud of the way they came back,” Schneider said. “It’s obvious we’re grinding. You get down six and it’s easy to just fold, but they did the exact opposite.”
It started with a two-run homer by Daulton Varsho, who played in just his second game since returning from offseason shoulder surgery. Alejandro Kirk followed with a homer of his own to cut the deficit to 6-3 in the bottom of the sixth.
Slugger Anthony Santander, the top offseason prize for the Blue Jays, delivered the big knock in the seventh inning.
His three-run homer tied the score and sent the Rogers Centre into a frenzy.
“It means a lot. This is good momentum,” Santander said after the game. “Hopefully we can carry that for all of May. It’s a long season. We’ve been in a tough stretch, but right now, with this win coming back from 6-0? That’s good momentum.”
Santander's struggles at the plate (he hit just three home runs before Wednesday's win, and is hitting .175) were the cause of growing concern among Blue Jays fans and media pundits alike.
Schneider tried to keep things in perspective for Santander, whose 44 home runs a season ago with the Baltimore Orioles ranked third in the majors but has traditionally been a slow starter in March and April.
“Is tomorrow May?” Schneider asked after the win. “Yeah? So [Santander]’s ready to go off.”
Wednesday's come-from-behind win was decided in the 10th inning by Kirk, who delivered a walk-off single for his second hit of the night.
The Blue Jays have overcome a deficit of more than six runs just 10 times in franchise history.
"It’s hard to do. It’s 6-0 and their starter is cruising. That’s an uphill fight, but I loved the way we went about it and it kind of got contagious," Schneider said. "Hopefully, this gets us going. That’s what we’ve been missing, that feeling in the dugout where you’re waiting for someone good to happen as opposed to something bad.”