Lineup, bullpen click in Ryu's Toronto debut

Hyun Jin Ryu had his best stuff working until he faded in the fifth inning in his Blue Jays debut on Opening Day, but the young team behind him is suddenly ready to pick up its ace when he needs it.

An ace can take many shapes, even within the same game, and Ryu was able to find early success regardless of whether he was breezing through or battling. That was cut short, as he lasted just 4 2/3 innings in Toronto’s 6-4 win on Friday night, but it was enough to set up the type of collective effort that we aren’t used to seeing from recent Blue Jays teams.

• Box score

Ryu opened with two efficient innings, needing just 10 and 12 pitches. His true talent showed in the third, though, when the Rays moved a runner to third base with just one out. The Blue Jays moved their infield in, showing some aggression early, before Ryu forced Mike Zunino to pop out. After walking a batter to put runners on the corners, Ryu turned to his excellent changeup and caught Hunter Renfroe well out in front to escape the inning.

“Honestly, I think I was the weak link in today’s game,” Ryu said. “As long as I pick up my pace, if everyone else does what they did today, I think we’ll be fine moving forward.”

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The Rays got to Ryu in the fifth, but by that point, he’d given his hitters enough time to jump out to a comfortable lead. The Blue Jays did it in some new ways, turning hits, walks and deep at-bats into three runs in the fourth, then they turned back to classic Toronto baseball in the fifth when Cavan Biggio launched a three-run shot to right field.

The chess game was on early, as Biggio took some information from his previous plate appearance and crafted the at-bat he was looking for.

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“I’d chased him high a couple of times [before]. I was trying to be aggressive with runners in scoring position, so that time I just laid off those high fastballs that I swung at in my first at-bat,” Biggio said. “It kind of forced him to make a pitch there, 3-1, knowing that he didn’t want to load the bases with Vladdy coming up. I was looking for a pitch out over, and I got it.”

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In recent years, the Blue Jays have too often leaned on one single thing tipping a game instead of shared contributions. At times, that’s meant hoping for their best pitchers to shut the opponent down entirely. Other times, it’s looked like a lineup waiting for home runs, but falling flat in between. Last season, Toronto ranked ninth in home runs (247), but 27th in on-base percentage (.305), creating a lineup that was both inconsistent and unreliable.

Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo loved what he saw from his lineup, but when he got to Biggio, it wasn’t the home run that impressed him most.

“Nobody will talk about this play, but Biggio’s bunt got this going,” Montoyo said, referencing Biggio's sharp bunt single to kick-start the fourth. “They were shifting him and he said, ‘OK, I’m going to make an adjustment.’ That bunt got that inning going. Of course, there was the three-run homer after that, but to me, that was the game. That bunt, when he did that.”

A revamped and modernized bullpen also followed Ryu, representing another new wrinkle with 4 1/3 innings and just one unearned run allowed. The Blue Jays have lagged behind in the race to stack MLB bullpens with multiple high-power arms, but Ryu was followed in the fifth by Jordan Romano, then Anthony Bass and Rafael Dolis, all of whom push their fastballs into the mid-90s, before handing off to the flamethrowing Ken Giles, who slammed the door shut with two strikeouts in the ninth for the save.