Blue Jays Beat Mets On Chris Bassitt's Big Day

With his wife in labor, Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt pitched 7.2 shutout innings against the Mets in his first start back at Citi Field.

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

NEW YORK — Chris Bassitt had a hectic Friday.

The Blue Jays starter made his return to Citi Field for the first time since leaving the Mets in free agency last winter. Rain delayed his start by 1.5 hours. Oh, and his wife, Jessica, went into labor with their second child.

Despite all the distractions, Bassitt managed to find a few hours to squeeze in 7.2 shutout innings before hopping on a plane back to Toronto. While Bassitt rushed to the airport to join his wife, the Blue Jays finished off a 3-0 win over the Mets.

"It's one of the best performances we've seen out of anyone," manager John Schneider said. "Given everything that he had going on."

On the rubber, Bassitt looked his normal self. The righty prodded at the mound with his cleat, gazed into the outfield while selecting deliveries via his PitchCom device, and marched around the bump after striking out Brandon Nimmo to start his outing.

The Blue Jays and Bassitt knew the righty's second child was due around this time, but they didn't know it would line up precisely with his start day. When it became clear the baby was on the way, Schneider talked with Bassitt, and the starter and his wife decided to go ahead with the outing.

"He was good with it, she was good with it," Schneider said. "Wives, they're just the best in this game."

An hour-plus rain delay hurt, but Bassitt still had some control over how fast he'd get back to Canada. The quicker he got through the Mets' order, the quicker he was on the plane. Bassitt started the game with first-pitch strikes to 11 of his first 15 batters (73.3%) and was through five frames on just 59 deliveries. 

"Hopefully a quick game, on the good side," Schneider said before the contest.

In the second frame, Bassitt sent Brett Baty and Starling Marte back to the dugout with consecutive strikeouts to kick off the inning. After both retirements, the Blue Jays starter took a quick stroll around the mound before retaking his pitching position. Three pitches later, he had Mark Vientos staring at strike three, punching out the side on 11 pitches — back to the dugout in mere minutes.

The soon-to-be father of two ran into rare trouble in the third when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. bobbled a grounder. The scuffled out brought up the top of New York's order with no outs and men on first and third. Six pitches later, Bassitt was out of the jam. Inducing a pop-up, strikeout, and fly-out, the veteran starter navigated his only danger of the evening in clinical and efficient fashion. 

He followed the third-inning maneuvering with 4.2 more shutout frames, outlasting the reigning Cy Young winner and besting his former team. As Schneider jogged out to the mound to take out his starter in the eighth, the skipper had a simple message: "Go be a dad."

Bassitt hovered in the dugout for a moment, watching Tim Mayza polish off the inning, before bolting to the tarmac to join his wife.

"I know that he wasn't able to be here to celebrate the win, but he pitched a great game for us," Daulton Varsho said. "A lot of stress, probably, with the kid coming along, but he did a really good job of focusing and throwing all of his pitches for strikes. Gave us a really great quality start."