Blue Jays takeaways: The winning formula is a whole lot of Robbie Ray and just enough offence

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This article was published 25/08/2021 (1521 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The view from Deep Left Field on the Blue Jays’ 3-1 win over the White Sox on Wednesday at Rogers Centre:

It was shaping up to be a very familiar story: another great effort by a starting pitcher wasted by an offence that has been firing blanks for the better part of a week.

The Blue Jays’ bats had shown signs of life in the late innings of Tuesday night’s loss to Chicago, loading the bases in the eighth and getting three hits in the ninth in rallies that ultimately fell short, and the hope was that might be a springboard to some offensive success the next night.

It didn’t translate right away. With two out and nobody on in the bottom of the eighth inning Wednesday, the Jays had managed one run on five hits, going a familiar 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position.

But then it all changed, starting with a little duck snort by Teoscar Hernandez that fell just in front of a charging right fielder Leury Garcia.

With White Sox lefty Aaron Bummer on the mound, left-handed hitting Corey Dickerson was lifted for pinch-hitter Breyvic Valera, who Breyv-ly hit a ground ball to right for a second straight single. Alejandro Kirk followed with a hard line drive to centre to easily score Hernandez, who was moving with the pitch, and the Jays had their first lead of the night.

It was the first time the Jays had three consecutive hits since their nine-run inning against the Red Sox back on Aug. 6, 18 games ago.

• Ray of light: It feels as though every five days I should just sit down and write a piece about how well Robbie Ray pitched, and I could do it before the game even starts. That’s how good the left-hander has been.

Ray’s incredible season continued Wednesday with perhaps his most spectacular performance yet. The southpaw allowed a run on five hits over seven innings, striking out 14 while walking only one.

In the 45-season history of the Jays, no southpaw has ever struck out as many in one game. Not David Price, not Jimmy Key, not David Wells, not even Ted Lilly, who rang up 13 Red Sox in a complete-game three-hitter back in 2004.

Unfortunately, due to his teammates’ recent offensive struggles, Ray didn’t get the win — leaving in a 1-1 tie — but that doesn’t make the start any less impressive.

In fact, over his last five starts, Ray has allowed just six runs on 23 hits over 34 innings, with seven walks and 42 strikeouts. That’s an ERA of 1.59. Opponents have hit just .192 against him over that span.

And in those five starts, Ray’s record is 0-0. Twice he left in a 2-2 tie, twice in a 1-1 tie, and once in a 0-0 game.

It’s a good thing pitcher wins don’t matter anymore to Cy Young voters, because after Wednesday’s start, the 29-year-old finds himself in the top three in the American League in ERA (second), WHIP (second), innings pitched (third), strikeouts (first) and Pitchers’ WAR (first, as measured by Baseball Reference).

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Those are some serious credentials as far as post-season hardware goes.

Team wins matter more, of course, and with Wednesday night’s late rally the Blue Jays are now 2-3 in Ray’s last five starts, and only 13-12 overall when he has taken the mound this season, but the numbers clearly show that the free-agent-to-be is giving his team an excellent chance to win every time he goes out there.

• Canadian content: A tip of the cap to Markham’s Jordan Romano, who worked the ninth inning and nailed down his third save in as many outings.

Romano has now gone eight straight appearances without giving up a run, and is combining with lefty Tim Mayza, who got the win with a perfect eighth, to become a legitimate shutdown combo in the back of the bullpen that the Jays have been lacking all season.

With Nate Pearson set to join them soon, the back end of the bullpen could finally become a strength, right when the Jays need it the most.

Mike Wilner is a Toronto-based baseball columnist for the Star and host of the baseball podcast “Deep Left Field.” Follow him on Twitter: @wilnerness