'It's time': Blue Jays start September sprint with emphatic win

DENVER -- Bingo.

The Blue Jays pulled off a terrific win on Friday night, beating the Rockies, 13-9, while the right-field scoreboard at Coors Field showed losses for the Mariners, Astros and Rangers. It’s as close to perfect as this imperfect season can get.

“Love it. Good way to start the trip,” said manager John Schneider. “It always seems to get dicey here, but the at-bats were really, really, really good. Getting the job done with guys on base is something we’ve talked about all the time this year, it feels like, so it was nice to keep adding on there.”

This big night moved Toronto back within 1 1/2 games of the Rangers for the final Wild Card spot in the American League. With each day that passes in this race, more arrows point towards the Blue Jays’ set against Texas from Sept. 11-14 in Toronto as the biggest of the season.

• Games remaining: at COL (2), at OAK (3), v KC (3), v TEX (4), v BOS (3), at NYY (3), at TB (3), v NYY (3), v TB (3)
• Standings update: 1 1/2 games back of Texas for the final AL Wild Card spot; 2 1/2 games back of Seattle and Houston
• Tiebreakers: Down 2-1 in season series vs. Texas; Win vs. Houston; Lose vs. Seattle

In a season that’s felt like the Blue Jays are running uphill in the mud, these rare days can breathe so much life back into a team. It’s oxygen to a fan base, too, which has been forced to hold onto the railings and ride out the club’s frustrating inconsistencies to get to these highs.

There’s been nothing relaxing about Blue Jays baseball this season, Friday included.

After the lead bounced back and forth early, it looked like another headache was building when the Rockies jumped out to a 5-3 lead on a three-run homer given up by Génesis Cabrera. That came just as it was becoming clear that the Mariners, Rangers and Astros might all lose, but the Blue Jays found another gear and responded with a five-run seventh.

Alejandro Kirk was the unexpected hero, stepping in as a pinch-hitter after Danny Jansen left with a fractured middle finger to hit a bases-clearing double. Add in a trio of deep blasts from Brandon Belt, Ernie Clement and Jansen before his early exit and you have one of the Blue Jays’ most complete offensive performances in weeks, something they’ll need to recreate to get back into a postseason spot.

All of this comes without Bo Bichette and Matt Chapman, the left side of the Blue Jays’ infield that’s sitting on the IL, but it’s been an opportunity for others to step up.

“We have some good energy going right now,” said Clement, who is a key piece in replacing those two. “There’s a lot of positivity. We believe in each other. They’ve had my back as soon as I got back up here and it’s been awesome. We’re feeding off each other. This is a team effort and we’re grinding right now.”

At this point, taking two of three or playing “winning baseball” isn’t enough. Even the late stumble from Chad Green in his Blue Jays debut, which forced Jordan Romano into the game, was more turbulence than this team can welcome right now.

The Blue Jays need to get greedy, chasing sweeps and streaks.

“It’s time,” Schneider said. “We’ve been focused on winning series the entire year. We’ve got to do a little bit more than that, I think, not just in the next three games, but as we continue to go. It’s one series at a time, but you’re trying to win every single night.”

By the end, this looked like a game between one team playing for a postseason spot and one team playing out its schedule. That’s exactly how the Blue Jays want to keep it for the next eight games.

After Colorado, Toronto travels to Oakland and then welcomes Kansas City to Rogers Centre. Nothing’s easy in the big leagues, but if the mid-September series against Texas is a steep hill to climb, these should only be speedbumps. The Blue Jays are trying not to get ahead of themselves, but there’s no denying how big an opportunity this is against three clubs who currently sit last, last and last in their divisions. None are close.

In the four weeks ahead, you’ll hear a dozen different Blue Jays say they want to control what they can control. That’s exactly what they did on Friday, and it doesn’t hurt when the other balls bounce your way, too.