TORONTO — The gang of media members moved from locker to locker seeking solutions, however on an evening like this, there wasn’t a lot to say.
For one, Yoshinobu Yamamoto had simply thrown the primary World Collection full sport in a decade, main the Dodgers to a 5-1 win and sending the collection to Los Angeles tied 1-1. Inside a quiet Blue Jays clubhouse at Rogers Centre, there was just one clarification to be discovered and it wasn’t particularly satisfying. Yamamoto had merely dominated.
However past that, the Blue Jays have confronted adversity many instances and afterwards the script tends to be acquainted: ‘tomorrow’s a brand new day,’ ‘we imagine on this group’ or, after particularly powerful losses, ‘flush it.’
This group provided feedback alongside these traces late in September, when the AL East appeared to be slipping away from them, at Yankee Stadium, when defensive errors price them Recreation 3 of the ALDS and inside this identical Rogers Centre clubhouse after the Mariners went up 2-0 within the ALCS.
They’re clichés, sure, however there’s reality behind them and the mindset appears to be working. So after a gem from Yamamoto, it was no shock to listen to variations on the identical theme. It’s just a little predictable, however what had been they going to do, blame the Jonas Brothers? No, it was time to maneuver on and catch a aircraft.
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“I imply that is why it is seven video games,” mentioned starter Kevin Gausman, who stored tempo with Yamamoto till the seventh on his strategy to a formidable World Collection debut. “We really feel fairly good about our staff.”
“It’s the World Collection, nevertheless it’s one other sport,” added Nathan Lukes. “We all know what we’re able to doing. Simply put it behind us and go into Monday.”
Or as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. put it from throughout the locker room: “We’re the kind of staff that by no means offers up.”
When the stakes are this excessive and one thing goes fallacious, it may be tempting to demand some type of change. However change for the sake of change would not essentially accomplish something, and a few Blue Jays coaches imagine it may be a type of entice.
In any case, coming into play on Saturday, Blue Jays hitters led all post-season groups in dwelling runs (23), batting common (.305), on-base proportion (.365), slugging proportion (.534) and wRC+ (149). They have not simply gotten by, they’ve dominated. And it occurred once more in Recreation 1 in opposition to two-time Cy Younger Award winner Blake Snell.
With that in thoughts, altering what they’re doing would in all probability not assist. As cliché because it sounds, possibly they actually do need to tip their collective caps to Yamamoto, the 27-year-old with the stability of a gymnast and a e-book stuffed with handwritten notes on opposing hitters.
From their lockers close to the centre of the clubhouse, Chris Bassitt and Jeff Hoffman actually weren’t advocating for an overhaul.
“Play the identical model of sport we’ve been taking part in,” Bassitt mentioned. “Nothing adjustments. We’re 1-1 in opposition to a extremely good staff.”
“Every sport is simply an unbiased sport,” he continued. “The truth is we’ll simply play our model of baseball and hopefully that works.”
Between the common season and post-season the Blue Jays have now received 102 whole video games, together with the franchise’s first World Collection victory since 1993. The best way Hoffman sees it, they’re doing a variety of issues effectively.
“Our mindset stays fairly constant,” he mentioned. “We wish to present up and play our model of baseball, dictate what occurs within the sport by way of our at-bats and thru our pitching, so we’re gonna take this off day the identical as we now have every other one all through this run, get our legs again below us and prepare to play an enormous sport on Wednesday.”
Make that Monday, however who’s counting? At this level within the 12 months, Hoffman’s not the one one who’s just a little disoriented by the calls for of the previous few weeks. Getting this far has taken plenty of work, and the loss to Yamamoto hurts as a result of Gausman pitched so effectively and the potential of a 2-0 lead was so tantalizing.
However large image, the Blue Jays are in an enviable place right here. One of the best-of-seven collection simply grew to become a best-of-five and home-field benefit flipped from the Blue Jays to the Dodgers. However solely three wins separate the Blue Jays from a World Collection title now, they usually’re actually able to going 3-2 in the event that they play close to their potential.
Step by step, the temper lightened ever so barely because the clubhouse got here to phrases with this new actuality. Gamers showered, packed for his or her upcoming journey to Los Angeles and coordinated with family members over the cellphone. At one set of couches, Lukes and Davis Schneider began taking part in playing cards whereas Myles Straw chatted with them from a number of ft away.
That half is acquainted, too. Now the problem is to do what they’ve accomplished so many different instances this season and recuperate from adversity. To win three extra, they need to begin with one.
