TORONTO -- One by one, the Blue Jays are appearing. 

We haven’t quite reached the point of “Avengers, assemble,” but the stars are finally aligning for a lineup that’s required more patience than it should have. This has been slow, steady and stumbled at times, but with Tuesday’s 6-5 win over the White Sox, the Blue Jays have won a season-high six in a row. 

Alejandro Kirk represented the first wave of reinforcements in May and continued that Tuesday, launching two home runs in one of the best performances of his young career. What’s more important, though, is that Kirk had Teoscar Hernández and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. producing on either side of him, lengthening the lineup behind Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 

Earlier this season, Charlie Montoyo saw Kirk doing a bit of what everyone else was doing. He was pressing at the plate, trying to be the one player to break the drought. Now, he and the Blue Jays are playing loose.

“That’s impressive for his age, to be that good and hitting whatever he’s hit the last two weeks,” Montoyo said. “He’s not striking out. He puts the ball in play. It doesn’t surprise me, because I’ve already seen him do this and you’ve seen him. He’s doing it again.”

Kirk’s turnaround has been sudden but expected. The 23-year-old has always been gifted with a plate approach well beyond his years, allowing him to make contact at an extremely high rate, but he didn’t record an extra-base hit until May 3 this season.

“There was a little bit of frustration at the beginning because you want to drive the ball,” Kirk said through an interpreter, “but I just kept coming in here early and working very hard with the coaches. They’ve trusted in me and that’s why I’m showing what I’m capable of doing.”

This is where we get back to the idea of hitting being contagious. If you had a dollar for each time Montoyo has said that this season, you could field a top-five MLB payroll.

Kirk is the perfect hitter to start those dominos falling, too. His approach allows him to be calm and comfortable in any situation facing any pitcher. He’s the type of hitter who fellow hitters appreciate, and he even drew some praise from his own starter after Kevin Gausman gave the Blue Jays five innings of three-run ball for the win.

“He can hit the high ball and he can hit the low ball. As a pitcher, you’re kind of wondering where you’re supposed to go,” Gausman said. “He’s a guy who doesn’t chase very much. He’s going to make you come into the strike zone and go after him. He does a good job of getting in favourable counts for him. We all knew it was there.”

Ahead of Kirk was Hernández in the cleanup spot, who entered play with a .501 OPS despite winning back-to-back Silver Slugger Awards. Hernández hit two loud doubles, driving in a pair of runs, and a turnaround from him might be what takes this lineup from “good” back to being one of the best in baseball.

Behind Kirk was Gurriel, who’s been struggling in his own way, but singled and walked as he continued to build on some recent momentum. Gurriel has typically heated up with the weather and gone on tears through the heart of the season, so his time is nearing, too.

“This is huge,” Montoyo said. “I was saying [earlier] that we’re playing good baseball, but it’s going to be tough to sweep people if we don’t start swinging the bats. We’re swinging now. We did it on the road trip and we scored six more runs today. We’re pitching and we’re catching the ball, too.”

Together, these three have such potential behind George Springer, Bo Bichette and Guerrero. That top three is special, with legitimate potential to be the league’s best when they’re all clicking, but the beauty of this lineup has always been in its quantity, not just quality. When you factor in Matt Chapman, Santiago Espinal and Danny Jansen, there shouldn’t be any black holes from one through nine.

It’s easy to see this team loosening up, too. Even the dancing, fun-loving, pranking group of young stars have their frustrations, and rightfully so. Playing a 162-game season is hard enough, but when weeks upon weeks of those games are all close, high-stress scenarios, the days become particularly grueling.

This lineup still hasn’t peaked, but that doesn’t matter until October. For now, it’s all about getting there, which will require a half-dozen other players living up to their potential. It’s been Kirk’s turn, and if hitting truly is contagious, he’s started to pass that on.