Blue Jays achieve rare feat in extra-inning Game 1 win

CHICAGO — For 10 innings Thursday, the Blue Jays made scoring look unattainable. For each groups.

Taking part in in entrance of the smallest crowd they’ll see all season in Recreation 1 of the doubleheader at Assured Price Area, the Blue Jays went 1-for-31 with 16 strikeouts over these first 10 innings. José Berríos and the Blue Jays’ bullpen, stubbornly burning via the White Sox lineup time and again, refused to let that be the story.

Handed one other shot at breaking the scoreless tie within the eleventh inning, the Blue Jays immediately discovered each gap possible and cruised to a 6-2 win in extras. The six runs are tied for probably the most in a single further inning in Blue Jays historical past, one thing they’ve carried out simply 3 times and never since 2011. Then, in Game 2the Blue Jays topped the White Sox 5-4.

That rating of the primary recreation does a horrible job of capturing it, although. It was the pitching, then lack thereof, that determined the lengthy first leg of Thursday’s marathon.

Berríos was sensible, reducing via the White Sox lineup like a buzzsaw. He and Lance Lynn traded regular blows, each throwing seven scoreless innings with Berríos hanging out six and Lynn mowing down 11, together with Bo Bichette 3 times. Each deserved a win, and whereas neither was credited with one, Berríos obtained the late reduction.

“I used to be within the coaching room doing my routine after pitching,” Berríos mentioned. “I used to be saying, ‘Oh, baseball.’ On the day of a doubleheader, we’re taking part in further innings, however thank god we completed this recreation with a win.”

The timing couldn’t be higher, both. Berríos’ outing saved the Blue Jays bullpen forward of Yusei Kikuchi in Recreation 2 of the doubleheader, and with Alek Manoah returning to the large leagues Friday in Detroit, the Blue Jays should be contemporary.

“We now have that on our minds, sure,” Berríos mentioned. “However you attempt to not add any stress. I simply took the sport pitch by pitch, and thank god I used to be in a position to throw seven innings immediately.”

This has been a exceptional run of pitching for Berríos. For many of the 2022 season, the Blue Jays merely needed to hope for one of the best as Berríos and his 5.23 ERA battled uphill all 12 months lengthy. He by no means really “misplaced it,” and his misses weren’t all that ugly, however it felt like opponents had been hitting completely all the pieces … and hitting it onerous.

Now, you’re seeing the previous Berríos. That is La Makina, “the machine”, who earned that status with the Twins as certainly one of baseball’s most constant beginning pitchers. It’s been one of many single most vital developments of the Blue Jays’ season. With out this model of Berríos each fifth day, you’re taking a look at an much more worrying stretch run forward.

“In the present day was enormous,” supervisor John Schneider mentioned. “He simply cruised. I believe he solely threw 87 pitches? He cruised, then turned it over to Trevor Richards with two actually good innings. That strains issues up. It retains guys contemporary and permits you to be extra aggressive.”

Together with Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt and Kikuchi, Berríos (who really threw 89 pitches Thursday) has helped to hold the Blue Jays with a four-man rotation. Trevor Richards, who labored as a bullpen day opener a handful of occasions in Manoah’s absence, took over for 2 wonderful innings of high-leverage work late earlier than handing off to Jordan Romano, who slammed the door shut within the tenth to tee it up another time for his offense. That is how the Blue Jays draw it up, however it not often goes so easily.

With 108 innings, Berrios now ranks eleventh in Main League Baseball, proper behind Gausman (109 2/3) and simply forward of Bassitt (105 2/3).

“I really feel prefer it was a very massive marathon,” Berríos mentioned. “However I really feel sturdy and wholesome. It was up and down, however we’ve been in a position to keep targeted and on monitor, begin by begin. That was my final one of many first half, and I completed actually sturdy.”

Past Berríos, so little about this recreation was fairly, however a win is a win. Schneider speaks so typically about taking part in baseball “in sync,” which means all phases of the Blue Jays’ recreation clicking on the identical time. Thursday’s win was miles from that, however when one aspect of their recreation performs in addition to Berríos and the bullpen, generally that’s sufficient to steal one.