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TORONTO — They represent, in the words of J.P. Ricciardi, the best team he has assembled in the seven years he's been the general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Over the final six weeks of the 2008 regular season, it will be determined whether Ricciardi's best is good enough for the playoffs.
The Blue Jays began a crucial homestand last night against the New York Yankees — one of the teams Toronto must overtake in the standings if it hopes to claw its way back into contention for the American League wild-card berth.
And the Blue Jays, 65-60, continue to play feisty baseball, trailing most of the way before battling back in the late innings for a dramatic 2-1 victory in the first game of a three-game series before 37,221 at the Rogers Centre.
New York Yankees centre-fielder Johnny Damon misses a hit to the wall, allowing a game-winning one-run double during the eighth inning. (J.P. Moczulski/CP)
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- Boston Red Sox
- New York Yankees
- Toronto Blue Jays
- Bobby Abreu
- Jeremy Accardo
- Joba Chamberlain
- Johnny Damon
- Scott Downs
- Roy Halladay
- Joe Inglett
- Adam Lind
- Jesse Litsch
- Shaun Marcum
- Hideki Matsui
- Lyle Overbay
- Darrell Rasner
- Alex Rodriguez
- Scott Rolen
- B.J. Ryan
- Marco Scutaro
- Jose Veras
The crowd saw a marvellous pitching performance by A.J. Burnett, the resurgent right-hander who scattered five New York hits for one run in eight innings to win his sixth game in a row and improve to 16-9 on the season.
Along the way, Burnett had that big curveball falling in for strikes. He struck out 13 batters, his largest total this season and one shy of his career best.
"That was a good win," Burnett said. "It's a good start for the homestand."
If the Blue Jays are serious about making a late charge for the wild card, it has to start now. It won't be easy, and manager Cito Gaston knows it.
With the win, the Jays remained in fourth place in the AL wild-card race, but moved to one game behind the third-place Yankees, 66-59. The front-running Boston Red Sox, who will be in Toronto for three games after the New York series, lead the Jays by 71/2.
Using a conservative yardstick of at least 90 wins for a team to be in the hunt for a wild-card spot (the Yankees won it last year with 94) means the Jays will have to go 25-12 over their 37 remaining games, a winning percentage of .676.
That level of excellence would appear to be a rather Herculean task for an erratic outfit that has not had more than a five-game winning streak over the course of the season.
Gaston chuckled when asked whether this was his most important week since he returned to the Jays' fold back in June.
"You can't afford to get swept," said Gaston, whose team just returned home after an invigorating 5-1 road journey. "You've got to win some series here, otherwise you can start thinking about next year."
There was enormous delight throughout the Jays' clubhouse, as several players played key roles in last night's victory.
After Adam Lind evened the score at 1-1 in the seventh inning with his ninth home run of the year, and third in as many games, the winning blow was struck by Marco Scutaro in the eighth against reliever Jose Veras, 3-2.
With Joe Inglett at first base, Scutaro's long fly ball was chased by centre fielder Johnny Damon back to the warning track, where it caromed off his glove and fell for a double.
Inglett scampered all the way around for the winning run, while Damon, who also had dropped a fly ball for an error in the first inning, threw his glove to the turf and looked on despondently.
It was then Jays first baseman Lyle Overbay's turn to shine in the ninth inning, making a spectacular play to throw out Alex Rodriguez, who was trying to stretch a single into a double.
With closer B.J. Ryan on the mound, Rodriguez, who had struck out in his three previous at-bats, knocked a flare down the first-base line that landed behind Overbay and rolled into foul territory.
Realizing Rodriquez was intent on going for two bases, Overbay tore after the ball and slid along the ground to scoop it up quickly. Overbay, who has an underrated arm, fired a one-hop strike to shortstop John McDonald and sliding Rodriguez was chicken fodder at second base as the fans rose to their feet to celebrate the stellar effort.
"That's a huge play," Burnett said. "A lot of first basemen give up on that ball and let the right fielder get it."
"It was just going through my mind, 'Just try to keep him off second,' " Overbay said. "You don't want to give up a leadoff double."
Ryan went on earn his 24th save of the season.
