Needing a hero, Blue Jays find familiar one in Vladdy

TORONTO -- The Blue Jays need a hero. They needed one a month ago, too, but applications are still open.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. threw another resume on the pile, hitting a three-run homer in Friday night’s 3-0 win over the Red Sox at Rogers Centre, which jerked the Blue Jays back onto the rails after a disastrous four-game sweep by the Rangers.

“We’ve got a 15-game season right now,” manager John Schneider said prior to the game, the ticking clock growing louder each day.

With so little time left for the Blue Jays to vault back into an American League Wild Card spot, this isn’t about sweeping changes or grand, philosophical shifts. They’ve had 148 games for that. Right now, it’s about the two weeks that are staring Toronto in the face, and the shortest path to the postseason is playing hero ball.

• Games remaining (14): vs. BOS (2), at NYY (3), at TB (3), vs. NYY (3), vs. TB (3)
• Standings update: Toronto is a half-game behind Seattle, which lost to the Dodgers on Friday night, for the final AL Wild Card spot and 1 1/2 games behind Texas, which lost to Cleveland. The Rangers hold the tiebreaker over the Blue Jays, and the Mariners likely will as well.
• Tiebreakers: Lose vs. Texas; win vs. Houston; likely lose vs. Seattle.

“We’re in a good position right now,” Guerrero said through a club interpreter. “If you take a look at Texas and Seattle’s schedules, they have to play seven games against one another, which is good for us. We just have to stay positive, keep working hard and get some more victories.”

Granted, this isn’t the NBA. The Blue Jays can’t force the ball to their own version of LeBron James in every big moment. But from the very beginning, this roster was built to have different players pop on any given night.

“That’s a huge homer from him today,” Schneider said. “Not to be overlooked was Bo [Bichette]’s at-bat before, when he had a 3-2 walk. That’s the thing we’re talking about. It doesn’t have to be Vlad, Bo or George [Springer]. It’s everyone doing their thing. Bo’s at-bat was huge before Vladdy, but his timing definitely looks better.”

In a perfect world, the Blue Jays would be playing a clean and cohesive brand of baseball, the one we’ve been hearing about since they opened camp in February. That hasn’t exactly happened, and if you need a fresh example, you don’t typically need to wait long.

Prior to Guerrero’s home run in the third inning, Alejandro Kirk got a half-dozen good bounces on a check-swing flare that was bobbled and mishandled by Alex Verdugo in right, resulting in a clunky double. When Daulton Varsho -- the very next batter -- rolled a ground ball up the middle to the shortstop, though, Kirk broke for third, and it was obvious to everyone in the building that he was toast the moment he moved.

Instead of sliding, Kirk jogged past Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers as he was tagged, sucking the air out of a building that was desperate for something to cheer about.

Guerrero’s blast soon distracted everyone from the baserunning blunder, which made it a three-run job instead of a grand slam. But that inning captured such an image of the 2023 Blue Jays. They’re good, even showing flickers and flashes of something more, but they continue to get in their own way.

These mistakes haven’t gone anywhere, and expecting them to disappear this deep into the season isn’t reasonable. Kirk’s out was the Blue Jays’ 19th of the season at third base, more than any team in MLB. It was ugly, like so many others have been ugly, but a hero performance tends to make you forget everything else that happened in the game.

José Berríos deserved just as much credit, holding the Red Sox scoreless for seven innings with eight strikeouts. It was Berríos at his absolute best on his own bobblehead night.

“We’ve turned the page,” Berríos said. “Tonight, we start with winning, and we hope we can keep that streak going long.”

Berríos will be one of the engines driving this Blue Jays team forward, even with his limited starts remaining. Even now, nearly six months in, the right-hander seems to have another gear he can reach back for in the biggest moments. It’s something he can control, which is so important and rare in late September.

It’s now a 14-game season. Soon, that will shrink to a single digit and drip away.

The Blue Jays can’t fix everything before then, but superstars playing up to their titles allows you to skip a few steps.