Blue Jays bounce back with dominant win in Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH – 18-10 was a comfortable record. 

It wasn’t the class of the American League, but it was good enough to have the Blue Jays – who were coming off three straight series wins – feeling confident heading to Boston to open a four-game split this past week. 

Especially considering the Blue Jays dominated those very same Sox last year, outsourcing them 125-55 across all contests. 

So it’s safe to say a four-game sweep at the hands of Boston was not exactly the expected result. 

“This stops here,” is what manager John Schneider has to say prior to their first game against the NL Central leading Pittsburgh Pirates. 

And that’s exactly what it did. 

The Blue Jays rebounded at beautiful PNC Park on Friday night to pull out a comfortable 4-0 win over the Pirates. 

Daulton Varso doubled in the fourth and a struggling George Springer was left with a smile on his face after belting out a two-run shot in the fifth for the added insurance. 

“It feels good, obviously,” Springer said of getting rewarded for his hard contact. “This is a results-oriented game and to not get the results that I would like for us isn't a good feeling. But at the end of the day, I know that I'm going out there and I'm playing hard every day and I'm hitting the ball hard and sometimes I just keep hitting it at somebody. But it is what it is. I keep trying to slow the game down, hit the ball hard and hopefully get some good luck.”

Chris Bassitt was on the bump after a less than ideal performance on his end against the Mariners on Sunday, and was outstanding. The righty went seven full innings allowing just four hits and four walks while sitting down five. 

One of the biggest takeaways through their four-game sweep at the hands of Boston was the sloppy baseball the team exhibited. Safe to say the attentiveness was turned up a notch and paid off dramatically with the defence throwing out three different base-runners through the first four innings of the game. 

“We expected them to be really aggressive versus me on the bases, trying to steal a lot, trying to move runners, it's just their style that they kind of have to play,” said Bassitt. “So it wasn't unexpected, it's just this is going to happen, let's make the plays. And we did.”

The Blue Jays will go again with the Pirates on Saturday evening with Jose Berrios looking to bounce back after a tough outing in Boston on Monday.