Blue Jays takeaways: MLB’s best bullpen slams the door on the Rays … and bunting for a hit is cool

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This article was published 25/04/2021 (1661 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The view from Deep Left Field on Sunday’s Blue Jays-Rays game:

HAULING ZEROES

The Blue Jays’ bullpen was pressed into action far earlier than expected because Hyun-Jin Ryu left with two out in the fourth inning, after throwing just 62 pitches, with a mild strain of the right glute.

As it has been all season, the relief corps was once again spectacular.

Tim Mayza followed Ryu and got the final out of the fourth, then came back out for the fifth, gave up back-to-back singles and that was the last sniff the Rays would get.

Mayza was replaced by Tyler Chatwood, who combined with Ryan Borucki, David Phelps and Rafael Dolis to provide five innings of no-hitter to finish up the ball game. Borucki was asked to get five outs and Dolis got the final four on just six pitches in what was his least stress-inducing appearance as a Blue Jay, preserving the 1-0 win.

The 5 1/3 shutout frames lowered the Jays’ bullpen ERA to a major-league-leading 2.10.

PLAYING THE LITTLE GAME

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. came into the game with just two hits in his last 20 at-bats. He hit the ball hard his first time up — a 101-miles-per-hour line drive to deep centre field — but it was run down by Kevin Kiermaier, so he went with a different tactic next time up.

Gurriel came to the plate in the top of the fifth inning in a 0-0 game, following Marcus Semien’s leadoff single, and dropped a bunt down the third-base side. He was trying to bunt his way on, as opposed to sacrifice the runner over, and catch the defence by surprise. It worked perfectly.

The bunt base hit gave the Jays two men on for the first time in the game, and set the stage for Santiago Espinal’s RBI single a couple of batters later, driving in the only run of the game.

Many who listened to me rail against the sacrifice bunt on the radio over the past couple of decades think I don’t like bunting in any situation, but that’s not the case. I can’t stand the sacrifice bunt; outs are too valuable to ask hitters to make one on purpose, almost regardless of the circumstance. On the flip side, though, I absolutely love bunting for a base hit. I wish hitters would do it more often.

Bunting for a hit is a great way to shake up defences, especially in the days of the big shift when teams often leave an entire side of the infield almost completely undefended. Bunting for a hit every once in a while keeps defenders honest and will, eventually, result in less shifting and potentially even more opportunities for hits.

And who knows? Maybe the little confidence boost of getting a hit, even by way of a bunt, can help kick-start a guy out of a slump. Gurriel added a line single in the top of the ninth for a two-hit day.

SHORING UP THE D

With a chance to win a series at Tropicana Field and their ace on the mound, the Jays decided to go with a different defensive look, given the struggles they’ve had on the infield for most of the season.

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Bo Bichette was in the lineup, but in the DH spot while Semien moved across the bag from second base to shortstop. Joe Panik, a one-time Gold Glover, got the start at second and Espinal, the only consistently strong defender the Jays have put at the hot corner all season, played third.

It worked.

There were nine ground balls hit to Jays infielders and all were fielded flawlessly, including a couple of spectacular grabs by Panik to end innings. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. didn’t even have to do the splits once. Fittingly, the final out was a ground ball to Panik at second, fielded routinely and thrown to first on the fly with no drama.

After Monday’s off-day, we’ll likely see Semien back at second, Bichette at short and Cavan Biggio at third when the Jays return “home” to face Washington on Tuesday, but Sunday showed they can go with the hands team on the infield when they need to.

Mike Wilner is a Toronto-based baseball columnist for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @wilnerness