Blue Jays week in review: the good, the bad, the noteworthy for July 7

Absolutely perfect. The Toronto Blue Jays started the week three games back of the Yankees in the AL East and they end the week three games ahead. They are undefeated in the month of July and have overcome an eight-game deficit in the span of five weeks.

On May 28, Toronto ended the day eight games behind the Yankees with a 27-28 record and a -26-run differential. They were also seemingly lucky to only be one game below .500 as their expected win-loss record stood at 25-30. Since then, they are 25-10, scoring 202 runs and allowing 155, giving them a +47-run differential.

It’s a truly remarkable turnaround for a Blue Jays team that seemed like they were just going to be fighting to stay above .500 for the first two months of the season. It was a hot week in Toronto and the Blue Jays brought things to a boiling point with their fantastic week.

Blue Jays week in review July 7

The good: A perfect week

This is the first time all season the Blue Jays have had a perfect 7-0 record for any given week, and it’s also their longest winning streak of the year with eight straight wins. The Blue Jays got those seven victories this week by winning in several different ways. From outslugging the Yankees to using some small ball tactics to beat the Angels, the Blue Jays got contributions from up and down the roster.

They outscored the Yankees 35-23, hitting nine home runs compared to the Yankees five. Then they squeaked by the Angels winning three consecutive one-run contests, two of which came in back-to-back wins in extra innings.

George Springer had a home stand he won’t soon forget hitting .428 over the seven games with 12 hits, five home runs and 13 RBI. Addison Barger had three multi-hit games, drove in nine runs and then made two huge defensive plays at third in the top of the ninth to secure the win against the Angels on Sunday.

Meantime, The pitching staff did their job, looking somewhat shaky against the Yankees, but bouncing back and holding the Angels to eight runs over the three games, with only two home runs allowed. The Angels came into the series with the second most home runs in the American League.

The bad: The injury bug continues to lurk

It looked like the Blue Jays were starting to get some reinforcements. Yimi Garcia returned from the injured list, threw one inning, and was immediately put back on the IL due to a freak accident during the post game when he slipped in the locker room and hurt his ankle.

Second baseman Andres Giménez tweaked his ankle and was placed on the 10-day IL after aggravating it while running the bases during Friday’s game and both Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. avoided injuries this week.

Bo stepped on a ball during batting practice on Monday and was removed due to knee discomfort and missed most of the Yankees series. Guerrero fouled a ball off his foot on Thursday and was held out of the lineup on Friday but returned to play in both games against the Angels on the weekend.
It’s almost a minor miracle the Blue Jays are where they are considering the string of bad luck they have had with injuries this season.

The noteworthy: There’s no place like home

The Blue Jays had already made a habit of winning at home this season, and that was before their first ever seven game homestand sweep this past week. The Rogers Centre has become one of the toughest buildings to play in for opponents as the Blue Jays just keep on mashing within the confines of their home ballpark.

As a home team, the Blue Jays top the American League in batting average (.273), on-base percentage (.346), slugging percentage (.461), OPS (.807) and average with runners in scoring position (.306). They are 32-16 at home this season and lost just four games at home in the month of June.

On deck: A chance to pad the lead

The Blue Jays don’t get much time to savoury the sweep over the Angels as they hit the road to start a six-game road trip, which starts on Monday evening in Chicago. The Blue Jays battle the White Sox for three games, before heading to somewhere in California to play the apparently homeless Athletics.

The White Sox in the Central and the Athletics in the West both sit at the bottom of their respective divisions and it gives the Blue Jays a chance to pick up some wins ahead of the All-Star break and see if they can add some more distance between themselves and the Yankees and the Rays in the AL East.

José Berrios (4-3 3.64 ERA) gets the ball for Toronto against Sean Burke (4-7 4.03 ERA) for the White Sox.