If the Toronto Blue Jays are nervous about reaching the post-season, it doesn’t show.
Myles Straw wore small, silver 1990s-style sunglasses as he answered questions from reporters following a 2 for 4 performance in Wednesday’s 5-1 win over the Detroit Tigers. As he spoke, Blue Jays teammates like Louis Varland and Shane Bieber stopped to take photos or videos, while Andres Gimenez stood near the media scrum shaking his head ruefully.
“I think they look good. I’m not sure. I got these guys over here laughing at me,” said Straw who drove in a run in the fourth inning. “I don’t know why they’re all looking.
“I mean, (infielder) Josh Smith. He gave them to me, so he’s got the same pair. I’m not the only one.”
The Cleveland Guardians beat Chicago 6-3 earlier in the day to take the lead in the American League Central. The White Sox now hold the AL’s third and final wild-card berth and the Blue Jays are 1 1/2 games behind them.
The Texas Rangers defeated the Boston Red Sox 7-3 later in the day to sit one game back of Chicago.
“Today was huge. Obviously, that was like a must-win,” said Straw. “Obviously, we’ve got, what, nine more (games), so anything can happen.
“That’s plenty of baseball, but I think today was a good one to get, for sure.”
Toronto’s rookie class like centre-fielder Brett Bateman and relief pitchers Spencer Miles and Brendan Cellucci were all duded up in short jean shorts, sleeveless plaid shirts and cowboy hats for the Blue Jays trip down to Texas for a critical three-game series against the Rangers.
“That was (veteran pitcher) Max Scherzer. He was excited to show me that a couple days ago,” said Straw. “I saw it, and I thought it’d be great.
“Hopefully, there’s some pictures. I’m sure there will be pictures posted, and you guys will definitely like it.”
The 42-year-old Scherzer (3-8) pitched five innings of one-run ball, allowing three hits and three walks but striking out three. Mason Fluharty, Miles and Varland combined for four scoreless innings to preserve the win.
It was Scherzer’s best start in three outings, keeping Toronto in the game long enough for shortstop Ernie Clement and Straw to drive in some runs. Scherzer had given up six runs over five innings in a 7-4 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Sept. 11 and three runs over 5 2/3 innings in a 4-3 win over the Kansas City Royals on Sept. 5.
“It’s great when you have to come to the field, and it’s must-win baseball. That’s how we’ve felt for a while now,” said Scherzer. “We know this position that we’re in. We’re aware of the standings, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to come here and win ball games.
“You can’t worry about everything else. You’ve got to worry about yourself. Today we had a good game, and everybody did their job.”
Blue Jays manager John Schneider said that he was going to try and relax on Thursday, the team’s off day, by golfing with his wife. He said he encouraged all of his players to also spend time with their families or think about anything other than baseball.
“I’ve been scoreboard watching for a while,” said Schneider. “I may take a break and just try to focus on going 1-0 every day with the Blue Jays.
“Whatever’s going to happen is going to happen. There’s a lot of moving pieces, and there’s going to continue to be a lot of moving pieces. I think if we can kind of worry about us, that’s the best thing to do.”
Before Wednesday’s win over Detroit, Schneider said that pitcher Trey Yesavage felt good after a conditioning start with the triple-A Buffalo Bisons and could pitch for the Blue Jays as soon as Sunday.
Schneider said that the rookie’s physical readiness was more important than his stat line for the Bisons after he threw 2/3 of an inning, giving up two hits and two runs, one earned, against the Rochester Red Wings.
Yesavage has a 5-5 record for Toronto this season with a 3.65 earned-run average over 18 starts. He’s struck out 91 batters over 93 2/3 innings pitched. He had been out after having surgery on his left knee to repair a meniscus injury suffered Aug. 4 against the Houston Astros.
Bieber, a former Cy Young Award winner, had a setback, however, and will have to delay his next side session. Bieber (5-2) has a 4.37 ERA, striking out 44 over 55 2/3 innings this year.
With nine games left in the regular season, Bieber’s runway to return from inflammation of the right teres major muscle is getting very short.
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