CINCINNATI — There were many heroes to go around Wednesday night at Great American Ball Park as the Blue Jays rallied from a five-run deficit after two innings for another slugfest win, 13-9, over the Reds.
Daulton Varsho and Ty France each had three hits and drove in two runs. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered as part of a two-hit night with two RBIs. Alejandro Kirk and Addison Barger also homered as part of Toronto’s 18-hit attack.
And Shane Bieber showed exactly what veteran moxie is all about, settling down after a five-run second to retire 11 straight batters and finish six innings for his second win in three starts back on a Major League mound.
But to Toronto manager John Schneider, it all began with a solo home run in the third from the heart and soul of the club right now — 35-year-old George Springer.
“I think to me, the key at-bat was George. After we’re down five, that was an unbelievable swing to hit it out to dead center, and he’s been doing it all year,” Schneider said. “And I’ll say it now, I think he deserves MVP consideration. I don’t want to put the cart before the horse, but I mean this dude’s hitting over .300 with 27 [homers], [72] RBIs and [.956] OPS. This guy’s playing his [butt] off.”
Aaron Judge is having another astronomical season for the Yankees and Cal Raleigh’s power has nearly single-handedly carried the Mariners into postseason contention. But all Schneider wanted Wednesday night was to shine a spotlight on the remarkable accomplishment of Springer a year after struggling through a .220 average.
Springer scored three times, went 2-for-4 with a homer, his third in two games, to continue his torrid streak at the plate. In his past 11 games, Springer is 19-for-44 with six home runs and 10 RBIs. In his past 48 games, Springer has 17 long balls, 40 RBIs and 55 runs scored.
“So I think to get back on the board was big,” Schneider said of Springer’s third-inning solo shot. “And when [one of] your oldest players is playing the game the way he’s playing and running the bases the way he’s playing, everyone kind of follows suit.”
The Jays certainly followed the lead of Springer on Wednesday.
Leading the Jays’ barrage was Barger, who belted a game-tying two-run homer in the fifth, and then added a sacrifice fly in the sixth and an RBI single in the eighth to help the Blue Jays capture the rubber game of the three-game series. Toronto mashed 11 homers over the three days in Cincinnati, scoring 25 runs in the final two.
But the irony Wednesday was that — in a game that featured 22 runs and 28 hits — the Jays don’t win if Bieber doesn’t find the mental strength to refocus after a five-run second.
Bieber (2-1), making his third start back from Tommy John surgery and his third since being acquired from Cleveland, was tagged for five runs — all earned — on five hits and a walk in the second inning.
“Just not giving in,” Bieber said. “Whatever it may be, experience, competitiveness, grit, whatever, just not giving in. I think telling myself that regardless of if I give up more runs, I’ve got to eat up innings here and do my job as a starting pitcher and to get deeper into the ballgame. And for a little bit there, especially early, it was not looking that way. So fortunately, I was able to turn things around.”
Schneider allowed the veteran right-hander to fight through the inning, and both were rewarded as the offense put on a power show and Bieber retired 11 straight Cincinnati batters and faced the minimum over the next four innings.
“I think that was good for him, first time really being tested, and probably the best five-run outing I’ve seen in a while from a starting pitcher, to be honest with you,” Schneider said. “He got into a better rhythm. And we needed it.”
The win also gave the Jays some valuable momentum heading into a crucial three-game weekend series in New York against the Yankees, with a day off Thursday to savor the win.
“The goal is always the same. You try to win every series,” Schneider said. “We know what’s in front of us, right? And it’s always better to win going into an off-day rather than sitting on a bad game and knowing you’re facing a really good team over the weekend. So that was a really well-rounded team win in a lot of different areas. We’ll enjoy the flight over to New York.”
