The Toronto Blue Jays needed something to jolt a flat offense, and on game two against the San Francisco Giants, they got it.
After a stretch that included being shut out in a pair of games and nearly three straight scoreless contests, Toronto finally looked alive at the plate in a 9-3 win. Managerial tinkering helped set the tone. Sean Keys, Brandon Valenzuela and Jonatan Clase all entered the lineup, and Ernie Clement was moved into the leadoff spot.
The early returns were immediate. Valenzuela opened with a single, Keys followed with one of his own, and Clase then launched a home run in his first start of the season. When he returned to the dugout, the celebration was different too: instead of the usual blue home run jacket, he got the red one reserved for Canada Day, then showed off a stuffed dragon on a stick once he was inside.
The unusual dugout routine may or may not stick around, but the production certainly should. Toronto’s offense finally stacked together a game that looked nothing like the recent drought.
Even with the fast start, the first inning still had a familiar frustration when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. grounded into a double play after the first two batters reached. But Clase made sure the inning didn’t define the night. He hit his three-run homer in the second, and the Blue Jays kept pouring it on in the third, opening with three straight hits and finishing the frame with six hits and five more runs.
Toronto is now more than five games under .500, but the American League’s overall struggles have kept the club in the wild-card mix. Still, the margin for error is shrinking fast.
For one night, though, the Blue Jays had a simple answer for their offensive funk: keep the dragon on a stick.
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The timing matters because Romanos recent stops with the Phillies and Angels did not go well, leaving him with plenty to prove every time he takes the mound. He has already been used in back-to-back games for Colorado and logged a save against the Giants, a useful first step for a pitcher whose path back to relevance is still being written. [Read more 🡒]