'Bob' Ross Stripling paints a near-masterpiece

TORONTO -- Just when you thought you were out, they pull you back in.

The moment the Blue Jays have been begging for belonged to George Springer, cracking a scoreless tie with an RBI single on his 1,000th career hit, emotion pouring out as he ran up the first-base line. Two pitches later, when Springer slid home to beat a tag, it all came out, lifting himself from the ground with a pump of his fists as he howled to the sky.

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The Blue Jays piled on six runs in that seventh inning, salvaging the Orioles series from disaster with a 6-1 win on Wednesday afternoon at Rogers Centre that felt as necessary as one can on Aug. 17. None of these moments were possible, though, without Ross Stripling, who set the stage with arguably the finest performance of his career.

“It was everything that our team needed and more,” Springer said following the win. “Stripling was incredible, the way he operated today. He mixed all 55 of the pitches that he has. He was just unbelievable today.”

Stripling carried a perfect game into that seventh inning, losing it on Cedric Mullins’ single before exiting after 6 1/3 frames. Were it not for Stripling’s recent IL stint, he would have pushed even deeper than those 72 pitches. But what he did with those 72 was the most valuable start of the Blue Jays’ season to date.

The veteran right-hander struck out seven and didn’t issue a walk, keeping the game in the palm of his hand throughout. Fans are used to seeing steady outings from Stripling, but Wednesday, he took on a more dominant form. Stripling’s changeup has never looked better, producing six whiffs on just 10 swings, and he found success with all of his secondaries. As Stripling loves to say, it’s “the kitchen sink.”

“You can call him 'Bob' Ross Stripling today,” said interim manager John Schneider. “He was painting. When you get an effort like that, it puts the bullpen in the right spot. He gave us a shot in the arm coming back off the IL. He was absolutely fantastic.”

When Schneider came to the mound, though, he wasn’t set on pulling Stripling with one out in the seventh. Stripling didn’t know this, because any time a manager had come to the mound in his Blue Jays tenure, he was lifted. Stripling had to be honest with Schneider and tell him he’d “shut it down” when he saw him leave the dugout, and Schneider had full appreciation for the honesty. That’s why Stripling shared a laugh on the mound before exiting to a standing ovation.

If it weren’t for the single, though, Stripling had his sights set on going all the way.

“I would have fought that tooth and nail to stay in, for sure,” Stripling said. “It might have been taken out of my hands, but now that I’m 32 years old, who knows if I’ll ever get an opportunity like that again. You would have had to drag me off the mound.”

Toronto entered this game on a 1-6 skid that included four losses to the Orioles, who would have leapfrogged them in the American League Wild Card race with a win. It has been a dreadful stretch, perhaps the Blue Jays’ worst of the season, but a team this talented shouldn’t need a long, wide turnaround. Top-end talent turns on a dime, and that’s what that seventh inning -- and game -- can represent.

Stripling isn’t the ace, but in his own way, he was the exact person to stop this skid. Time after time this season, he has stepped in quietly and saved the Blue Jays.

To really focus in on the definition of “valuable,” few Blue Jays have better fit the term in 2022. When Hyun Jin Ryu hit the IL early this season, then eventually underwent Tommy John surgery, it was Stripling who stepped in. He hasn’t just filled innings, either; he has essentially been the club’s No. 3 starter, posting a 2.93 ERA.

Given the difficulties faced by José Berríos and Yusei Kikuchi, Stripling’s knack for providing stability is even more important. When the Blue Jays’ starters walked from the bullpen to the dugout together Wednesday, as they do before all games, it was Mitch White walking with the group, not Kikuchi. After the game, Schneider revealed that Kikuchi had been moved to the bullpen, where he expects some valuable innings from the struggling but hard-throwing lefty.

Those problems seem to disappear quickly from the mind following a win like this, though, which needs to be the one that turns it all around.