Blue Jays Handle Business, Like Great Teams Do

A 4-3 win over the Athletics may soon be forgotten, but it's the type of win the Blue Jays will need in 2022

Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

The 2021 Blue Jays were good against the bad teams.

Toronto won 43 of their 70 contests against sub .500 opponents last year—a .614 win percentage. The best teams are even better, though, collecting buckets of wins against the bottom feeders. The AL East-winning Rays posted a .722 win rate against sub-.500 squads. If the Jays want to join the top tier in 2022, they’ll have to finish off the bad squads, as they did on Sunday.

Though the A's entered Sunday’s rubber match 5-4, they traded 16.6 bWAR this offseason in Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, and others. Against a squad in rebuild mode—or at least retool—the Jays were the biggest betting favorite of any team playing Sunday. A 4-3 final score doesn’t scream dominance, but there was rarely a tense moment in Toronto’s series finale win, in large part thanks to Alek Manoah.

Across his six innings of two-run work, Manoah sent road batters walking away shaking their heads. Oakland infielder Sheldon Neuse was twice a strikeout victim, slamming his bat in frustration in the first and heading back to the dugout in disbelief in the sixth.

Manoah began his jog to the dugout early in the fourth inning after inducing a one out grounder to shortstop. With the starter halfway off the field, Bo Bichette scooped the dribbler and began the double-play turn. By the time Vladimir Guerrero Jr. stood at first to flash the catch, Manoah was already across the third-base line and two steps from the Toronto dugout. Save for a Stephen Vogt homer in the sixth, Manoah looked like the same the dominant hurler that shut out the Yankees in New York to start his season.

"I want those guys to know that I'm giving it my all every time," Manoah said. "I think they kind of feel and kind of play off that energy. To be able to go out there and get as many wins as possible, that's going to get us in the postseason."

Backing Manoah at the plate, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. stuck his hand and legs in the air after sliding across the plate safe in the fifth. The Blue Jay outfielder was panting as he sat in the dust of his slide after scoring from first on an Oakland error. Gurriel was the only run Toronto cashed in the inning, with two runners stranded on.

With seven hits, five walks, and two opposition errors, Toronto's offense had the run support, on paper. They scored a run in four of the first five innings but left eight runners on base, never fully pulling away. With injuries to lineup mainstays Teoscar Hernández and Danny Jansen, the Jays have scored just 4.2 runs per game through 10 contests, but still own the AL East's top record. Against the A's on Sunday, four was enough, finding a way to win once again.

"Whenever we get the hitting going," manager Charlie Montoyo said. "If we keep catching it and pitching the way we're doing it, it's going to be a fun year."

A clean victory in game 10 and a series win against a rebuilding squad won’t grab any eyes or raise any heart rates. But it’s the future forgotten games like Sunday’s that could earn the Blue Jays the October limelight.