AL East Round Up: Memories Edition

Toronto Blue Jays

I fit feels like a long time since the Blue Jays have been perched atop the AL East, it is because it HAS been a long time. According to Gregor Chisholm at MLB.com, the last time the Blue Jays were in first place was when they were half a game up on the Yankees…FIVE years ago! May 23, 2009 was the last time Blue Jays fans could point to the fans of New York or Boston and gleefully mock them. That’s a long time. Feels good, no?

Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

The Blue Jays have ridden 10 wins in their last 15 games right to first place. This streak includes a SWEEP of the Red Sox IN Fenway Park! Despite having a revolving door for a roster, they have managed to leap frog their stagnant rivals.

Over the last week, the Jays have received some brilliant performances from all over. Drew Hutchison (#HutchShow) out dueled Yu Darvish down in Texas! He tossed a 3 hit shutout for his 3rd win of the season. Anthony Gose has come up and started using the abilities the Blue Jays traded for.

FanSided

He is getting on base and using his speed to help the ball club in more ways than

was able to do before he hit the DL with his tighty righty hamstring. The bunts he laid down in Texas, and again in Boston, for singles were things of beauty! Fans must be wondering if he is starting to force his way onto the club for good. His defense has never been in question. Maybe regular playing time is what he needed to turn things around. Who knows, with more maybe we won’t see plays like the

THIS

as he gets used to Rogers Center’s walls.

Edwin Encarnacion has brought out the chicken wings with extra sauce this week. He had two games in a row with 2 homeruns. His homerun and RBI totals are starting to pile up and fans are forgetting his slow start to the year.

Mark Buehrle is continuing his surprising season. He has moved to 8-1! His ERA is a crisp 2.16 having only given up 16 earned runs all season. Believe it or not, Jays fans are seeing arguably the best Mark Buehrle. His ERA since joining the Blue Jays (3.66) is lower than that of his time with Miami (3.74) or Chicago (3.83). I know, it’s not MUCH better, but still.

A Celebratory Brett Lawrie High Five goes out to Rob Rasmussen who created a very special memory of his own when he made his MLB debut this week. His task? Oh, you know…retire David Ortiz. No big deal. Here’s the clip of a moment Rasmussen will remember forever:

In case he’s faded form your memory, Sergio Santos has started his comeback from his forearm strain. Gregor Chisholm tells us that he engaged in some “light tossing” on Wednesday. It makes it easier to forget the memory of Santos’ Adventures in Closing since Casey Janssen has come back to shore up the back end of the bullpen.