Blue Jays spread out offense, salvage series vs. Red Sox with win

BOSTON — That was a little more like what the Toronto Blue Jays have come to expect from their offense. The Blue Jays (6-7) banged out a season-high 14 hits against the Red Sox at Fenway Park Sunday afternoon on their way to a 5-3 win.

“It was more important to win,” said Jose Bautista. “So, I’m happy about that. The hits are OK, but the win is the most important part.”

But, both hits and wins have been difficult to find so far this season for Toronto. The win on Sunday stopped a two-game slide and four-game road skid. On Saturday, David Price and the Boston bullpen held the Blue Jays to seven hits, while they were limited to just three hits on Friday – all by Edwin Encarnacion.

The Blue Jays hope this is the kind of game that can light a fire.

“Considering the circumstances so far, hopefully it does a lot. We’ve been waiting for one of those” said manager John Gibbons. “We really needed that. That’s kind of the trademark of our offense. We did that so many times last year. But it’s been evading us this year to this point. Maybe that sparks us.”

The Blue Jays 2-3-4 hitters continue to set the pace. Josh Donaldson, in the two spot, is hitting .321 with a whopping 1.074 OPS. He has 10 extra-base hits, including five home runs, and at least one extra-base hit in nine games this season. Bautista (.310) got the Blue Jays on the board first on Sunday with a solo homer – his third of the season, all against Boston – and has reached base safely in all 13 games.

Encarnacion (.314, .816 OPS) went 2 for 5 with a run scored and an RBI, and has reached base safely in 10 straight games.

But on Sunday the Blue Jays spread out their offense. Every batter in the starting lineup recorded at least one hit.

“It’s always nice,” said hitting coach Brook Jacoby of the offensive barrage. “It’s always nice to win. That’s the biggest thing. But I think the guys, some guys that got some hits needed some to build some confidence moving forward. So, hopefully build on that.”

Kevin Pillar, moved from the leadoff spot to No. 8 , went 3 for 4. Chris Colabello went 1 for 3, just his second hit of the season with his first RBI.

“I think it took a little pressure off Kevin and he ended up with three hits today and looked good at the plate,” Jacoby said.

It’s an example of what Toronto’s offense — one of the most potent in the majors last season – can do.

“It’s what it’s done in the past,” Jacoby said. “I don’t’ have any doubt that it’ll do it again this year.”

So far, though, that has been slow to formulate.

The Blue Jays entered Sunday hitting a combined .214, better than only Tampa Bay’s .207 in the American League. Their on-base percentage of .288 was 12th in the league, while their .375 slugging percentage was ninth.

With less than two outs, they were hitting .302. That mark fell to just .128 with two outs.

They lead the majors with 136 strikeouts, and had 12 whiffs in each of the first three games of the four-game series against the Red Sox, including Sunday.

“I’m sure everybody’s individual situation is different,” Bautista said. “I’m not too concerned about it. As long as we keep getting wins it doesn’t really matter in my opinion. But that might vary if you ask different people in this room.”

For now, Jacoby is not worried about the mounting K’s.

“I look at a couple of things,” Jacoby said. “First of all, are we taking to get to two strikes, are we chasing, or are we missing in the zone? And we’re doing a little bit of all those right now. Missing in the zone, that’ll change. And most likely the chasing will, too.

“If guys are taking strikes, that’s one thing. If they can hit with two strikes, that’s another. But right now we got some guys missing fastballs in the zone. We’ve got some guys chasing, too. But it’ll all work itself out.

“If we’re looking at two months into the season that guys are still swinging and missing in the strike zone, that’s a real problem.”

And then there’s the bottom line.

“If you win, nobody cares,” Gibbons said. “If you lose, everybody cares. I guess we kind of live by that.”

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2016/04/17/blue-jays-spread-out-offense-salvage-series-vs-red-sox-win/83170668/