Blue Jays week in review: the good, the bad and the noteworthy for August 11

It was a wild and wacky trip out west for the Toronto Blue Jays. They finished the week 4-2, sweeping the Colorado Rockies and avoiding a sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was two very different series for Toronto where they had to play the absolute worst and the absolute best in baseball in a span of seven days.

The week began with the Jays completely routing the Rockies - so much so that the question of a mercy rule was brought up by several pundits. The week ended with the Blue Jays flirting with disaster against a Dodgers team that usually punishes their opponents for any mistakes.

With Toronto surviving a nail biting 5-4 win over LA on Sunday, they get to stay four games ahead of the Red Sox and six-and-a-half ahead of the Yankees in the AL East, with 43 games remaining in the regular season.

Blue Jays week in review: the good, the bad and the noteworthy for August 11

The good: Setting records in Colorado

The Blue Jays three game sweep over the Rockies was historic for a number of reasons. Their 63 hits were a franchise record and something no team has accomplished in the modern era. They outscored the Rockies 45-6 over the course of those three games which was also a new franchise record for most runs in a single series. Their previous high was when they scored 4 runs during a series against the Boston Red Sox in July of 2022.

What the Blue Jays did against the Rockies was just absurd in terms of how many runs they scored. 17 of the 30 teams in MLB haven’t gotten 21 hits in any game they’ve played this season and yet the Blue Jays averaged 21 hits a game in that series. 12 of the 30 teams haven’t scored 15 runs in any game this season, while the Blue Jays just averaged 15 runs a game in that series.

It wasn’t just the offense that was clicking as the Blue Jays also pitched really well, including another eight strikeout performance from Kevin Gausman, which ties him for the second in franchise history in that category. As a team they gave up just those six runs and barely needed their bullpen. Unfortunately that extra rest didn’t help much in the next series.

The bad: Too many walks

The Dodgers got their hits, and got enough of them when they needed them. But the Blue Jays pitching gave up way too many free passes over the course of the series. While it hurt them in the first two games, they really did their best to give the Dodgers every chance to win the third game.

The Blue Jays walked 13 Dodgers hitters, including seven of them in the final two innings with the game on the line. Closer Jeff Hoffman was the worst culprit, walking five batters including one with the bases loaded to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth.

Sure there were some questionable strike calls, and some questionable check swing calls as well. But that's the position the Blue Jays put themselves in by playing with fire a few too many times in the series finale.

The noteworthy: Fluharty’s BIG save

Mason Fluharty may have recorded two of the biggest outs of the season for the Blue Jays. With the bases loaded and one out, Fluharty got out of the jam by getting two Future Hall of Famers out to end the game.

First, it was a nine pitch at bat to Shohei Ohtani. The Blue Jays rookie reliever stared greatness in the face and should have eliminated the threat on just three pitches.

Fluharty threw an 81 mph sweeper for a called strike. He got Ohtani to check swing on a high cut fastball - but somehow the third base umpire completely missed Ohtani's swing and the pitch was called a ball. Even the Dodgers broadcast crew, thought Ohtani got away with this one.

Fluharty then got Ohtani to chase a sweeper at the bottom of the zone to make the count 1-2 (although it should've been strike three). After fouling off a couple of pitches and getting into a 3-2 count, Ohtani then swung right over top the sweeper again for a huge second out in the ninth.

After that at bat, all Fluharty had to do was retire Mookie Betts, who struck out in a key situation in the eighth inning, but had a chance at redemption in the ninth. Fluharty, got Betts to ground into the hole and Ernie Clement (who hit the go ahead home run in the top of the ninth) made a clean play to second for the force out and forced the Dodgers to settle for a 2-1 series win instead of a sweep.

Fluharty can play another 20 years in the big leagues and he may never have a better story than how he earned his first career MLB save.

On deck: Cubs and Rangers head to Toronto

The Blue Jays (69-50) get a day off on Monday to reset from the jet lag before hosting the Cubs (67-49) for three games starting on Tuesday. The Cubs for most of the first half of the season looked to be in complete control of a percieved weak NL Central. However, they've fallen five-and-a-half games behind the best team in baseball in Milwaukee. The Cubs do have a comfortable five game lead as the top team in the Wild Card race.

After the Cubs, the Rangers (60-59, two-and-a-half games back in Wild Card), who are fighting for their own playoff lives, come to town for a three game set on Friday.