Young Jays outslug O's for 7th win in 9 games

Offense keys sweep, but Bichette goes into concussion protocol

September 20th, 2019

BALTIMORE -- How this Blue Jays squad, third youngest in Major League Baseball, conducts itself through the ups and downs of a 162-game grind is more what manager Charlie Montoyo is looking for in evaluating his roster. The results are important, too, but the rebuilding circumstances have created the need for evaluation of a different variety.

It would have been easy for Toronto to fold after Sept. 8, when it lost its season-high seventh consecutive contest. Few could have blamed the clubhouse if it had set its sights more fully on 2020, when the hope is that the roster will take a step toward competitiveness.

But these Blue Jays have struck those possibilities right on the honker. Thursday night’s 8-4 victory over the Orioles at Camden Yards was Toronto’s seventh in its past nine games. The Blue Jays have amassed 58 runs in those nine games after scoring just 15 in the seven games prior.

“Our coaches do a great job of staying positive,” Montoyo said, “and keep working hard and keep playing hard until the end.”

Here are three takeaways from Toronto’s sweep in Baltimore:

1. Bichette’s health

One of the few down notes of the series was the unfortunate events that unfolded for Bo Bichette on Thursday. The rookie shortstop took a 92.9-mph sinker off the brim of his helmet in the sixth inning. A tense moment was quelled when he popped back to his feet quickly before remaining in the game, but he was removed after concussion-like symptoms set in one inning later, Montoyo said.

Bichette will be reevaluated Friday ahead of the series opener in New York as per MLB’s concussion protocol. He is considered day to day.

So came about a premature end to what was an otherwise rough series for Bichette -- but only by his standards. Though he continues to rank near the top of the American League in several offensive categories, Bichette's 3-for-12 series was a far cry from the .315/.355/.592 slash line he carried into Baltimore.

It's probably nothing to be alarmed about, but it's anyone’s guess how much time Bichette will miss.

2. Kay’s winding path to victory
There was hardly anything about Anthony Kay’s first career win Thursday that went as he expected: the team, the location, pitching behind an opener, the beer shower that followed.

But other than the fermented particles in his hair that he’ll need to eradicate, Kay -- Toronto’s No. 4 prospect per MLB Pipeline, who was acquired in the Marcus Stroman deal with the Mets -- will take the night in stride, knowing that the first is behind him, with hopefully more to follow.

What Kay liked most about his performance -- in which he allowed four hits, two runs and one walk in four innings with three strikeouts behind opener Wilmer Font -- was walking just a single batter for the second consecutive game.

Kay was particularly sharp with his changeup, inducing six swinging strikes on just 13 tosses. But it was on that pitch, too, that the O's first run scored.

“If you make mistakes, they're going to hit the good ones,” Kay said. “You saw [Trey] Mancini today. I threw him two good changeups, and then he swung right through it. Then I tried to put him away with another one and kind of hung it a little bit, and that’s the one he drove into right-center field.”

So consider Kay’s night a microcosm of the roster: Learn as you play.

3. Baby Birds unite
Thursday marked one of the small handful of times this year that the Blue Jays have had the core quartet of their “Baby Birds” -- Bichette, Cavan Biggio, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. -- in the lineup at the same time.

But it isn't just them who have continued to break out as the season has progressed.

Consider these stat lines from the three-game series:

• Biggio: 8-for-16 with two homers, eight RBIs and his magical Tuesday night cycle

• Gurriel: Three RBIs and a homer while recovering from a left quad strain

• Guerrero: 6-for-14, with his .491 batting average against the Orioles topping the Major Leagues against a single opponent

• Rowdy Tellez: Reached base in 6 of 13 plate appearances with four runs scored

• Randal Grichuk: Three hits -- all for extra bases (two homers, one double) -- and five extra-base hits in his past four games

“A lot of wins,” Montoyo said. “That brings a smile to my face.”