BALTIMORE — As the afternoon wore on and missed opportunities alternated with occasional flashes of brilliance at Camden Yards, it became clear that Sunday would either be infuriating or joyful for the Toronto Blue Jays.
But after a tenth inning rally in which Myles Straw drove home the go-ahead run on an infield single, Jeff Hoffman dominated a team he had extra motivation to defeat on the way to a memorable 7-6 win over the Orioles.
“It was a big win,” Straw said afterwards. “We definitely did not play our best game (but) it’s good to fight back.”
“We could have shut down. But we knew we had to fight.”
Without Hoffman’s dominance in the ninth, the tenth inning rally wouldn’t have been possible. But the right-hander pitched two shutout innings for the second time in a week, stealing a win from a team that walked away from a pending deal with him this off-season due to concerns over his shoulder. After striking out Ramon Laureano for the final out of the game, he blew a kiss toward the Orioles dugout – a reminder of what they could have had.
“He’s been nails,” Straw said. “A dog out there. I did not see (the kiss), but whatever he wants to do he can do it. As long as he keeps pitching like that he can do whatever he wants.”
Speaking calmly after the win, Hoffman acknowledged that the near-deal with Baltimore was “definitely in (his) head” leading up to this series. Yet once the games began, his focus shifted to making pitches.
“If you start to think about all that stuff while you’re out there, things tend not to go well,” he said. “So I do my best to stay in the moment and try to make the next pitch.”
Then, once he’d shut the Orioles down for his first win as a Blue Jay, Hoffman let his emotions show a little more.
“Definitely,” he said. “I’m excited when we win. It’s hard to win in this league.”
“He really likes these moments,” added manager John Schneider. “He was probably looking forward to this series a little bit after the off-season he had and rightfully so. He stepped up a little bit and his stuff was in a little bit of a different gear there.”
It’s the results that matter most here, but there’s no overlooking the fact that the Blue Jays made too many mistakes in the field and on the bases Sunday. They also lost George Springer to left wrist discomfort, but they return home 9-7 after a challenging three-city road trip on which they went 4-5.
Offensively, the Blue Jays still rank last in MLB in home runs, but Alejandro Kirk hit his first of the season Sunday, a 389-foot shot over the left field wall at Camden Yards.
The Blue Jays will hit for more power when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette find the seats again, but on Sunday the Blue Jays’ two best players stood out as much for their defensive miscues as they did for their offensive prowess. In the sixth inning, with the Orioles leading by one, Bichette and Guerrero Jr. made errors on back to back plays, leading to a pair of costly unearned runs.
The Blue Jays had a chance to take the lead in the top of the ninth inning following an Anthony Santander double, but Baltimore catcher Adley Rutschman immediately nabbed pinch runner Nathan Lukes, who was caught off-guard by a back-pick he needs to anticipate.
Afterwards, Schneider acknowledged the need for better defence and baserunning.
“You have to tighten it up,” he said. “This is what we get paid to do. You make adjustments and move forward.”
The early departure of Springer only augments the offensive questions for the Blue Jays, though the early signs were encouraging. X-rays were negative, and Springer’s now considered day to day with left wrist discomfort.
“A little bit of a zinger,” Schneider said. “Best possible outcome so far.”
Springer’s batting .375 with a 1.040 OPS this year, so any absence would be costly for the Blue Jays at a time that Guerrero Jr., Bichette and Santander have combined for one home run. Daulton Varsho could provide the lineup with some left-handed power before long, but he must first play in extended spring training games and then complete a triple-A rehab stint before returning.
In the meantime, the Blue Jays need their current roster to step up and on that front they got big hits from Bichette and Andres Gimenez, a four-hit game from Ernie Clement and a notably productive afternoon from Davis Schneider who ended an 0/34 hitless steak with a third inning single while later adding two walks and an RBI groundout.
Meanwhile, on the mound, Jose Berrios allowed four earned runs over five innings while striking out six and allowing home runs to Ryan Mountcastle and Tyler O’Neill. He felt he could have located his pitches better against Baltimore’s lineup but wasn’t complaining about the end result.
“It’s always fun when we win,” Berrios said. “It’s a pleasure.”
With Atlanta’s Spencer Schwellenbach and Spencer Strider both slated to pitch against the Blue Jays in Toronto next week, the tests aren’t getting any easier for this struggling Blue Jays offence. Sometime soon, they must find a way to hit for more power and take a little pressure off the rest of their game.
But after a win like this, that’s a problem for another day.
“It was kind of a roller coaster,” Schneider said. “There were times you were pissed, there were times you were pleased. It was one of those games, and I think Hoff was the difference at the end.”
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