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TORONTO — Here is something to mull over as you pore over this morning's sports section while working your way through that bowl of granola.
The Toronto Blue Jays would be leading the American League wild-card standings today if the season began on June 20, the day Cito Gaston came on board as the team's new manager.
Think about it.
A September where the games could actually have some meaning, something Blue Jays' fans have been deprived of since 1993, the last time Toronto made the playoffs and then went on to win the World Series.
Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Marco Scutaro, top, forces out Minnesota Twins centre fielder Denard Span at second base, then throws out Twins second baseman Alexi Casilla at first base to complete the double play during the first inning in Toronto on Thursday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)
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- Chicago White Sox
- Minnesota Twins
- Philadelphia Phillies
- Toronto Blue Jays
- Jeremy Accardo
- Rod Barajas
- Joe Inglett
- Adam Lind
- Jesse Litsch
- John McDonald
- Alex Rios
- Marco Scutaro
- Kevin Slowey
- Travis Snider
- Matt Stairs
- Vernon Wells
So it's almost diabolical, this recent run of success the Blue Jays have enjoyed, aesthetically eye-pleasing while at the same time incredibly frustrating for fans because it has come so late in a long season after the team has all but been eliminated from playoff contention.
The trend continued for the Blue Jays last night as they maintained their mastery over the road-weary Minnesota Twins, riding the solid pitching of Jesse Litsch and, once again, the hot bat of raw rookie Travis Snider to a 9-0 victory before 25,128 at the Rogers Centre.
The Blue Jays won for the fifth time in a row and improved to a season-best seven games over .500 at 73-66. They are 38-27 under Gaston's rule, a winning percentage of .585.
Litsch was masterful, pitching his second complete game shutout of the year, giving up four Minnesota hits and inducing 15 ground-ball outs to improve his record to 10-8.
And all 20-year-old Snider did was go 3-for-3, with his first major-league home run and two runs batted in.
"Pretty excited," was how Snider, who was called up from Triple-A Syracuse last Friday, described the moment, which occurred in the fifth inning and moved the Blue Jays in front 2-0. "I was trying not to sprint. It was tough for me."
In his first two games before the home fans, Snider is 6-for-8, including a key hit in the ninth inning on Wednesday that helped score the tying run en route to a 5-4 Toronto win in 11 innings.
"Man, he's something," Gaston said. "He's very calm, he doesn't get excited. I think we might have something there."
Vernon Wells also had a home run and two RBIs for the Blue Jays, who led 4-0 after seven innings before breaking the game open with a five-run eighth.
The win provided the Blue Jays with a three-game sweep over the Twins and they won all six encounters with them on the season.
When the Jays tied the can to John Gibbons and brought in Gaston and his calming influences to manage the team back in June, the Jays were 35-39 and in fifth (last) place in the AL East, 10 1/2 games behind the front-running Boston Red Sox.
Since Gaston took over, the Blue Jays have now powered to a record of 38-27, a winning percentage of .585, the fourth best record in the AL over that span.
Only the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (.647), Tampa Bay Rays (.636) and Twins (.597) have played at a better clip than the Blue Jays during that time.
It would still be good enough to give the Blue Jays to hold a slim lead in the AL wild-card race over the Red Sox.
But reality is rarely kind to the Blue Jays, especially in their cutthroat division.
Despite their recent turnaround, the Blue Jays have lost ground in the standings under Gaston and are 12 1/2 games behind the pace being set by the Rays, who come to Toronto to begin a three-game set tonight.
The Blue Jays are in fourth place in the wild-card standings, nine games behind Boston with 23 games left to play.
Gaston is clearly satisfied with the path the team is on.
"We're still not quite where we want to be, but we're working on it," Gaston said before the game.
Things were not going well early on for Minnesota, trying to wind up a marathon 14-game trip on a winning note.
Starting pitcher Kevin Slowey plunked Toronto leadoff batter Joe Inglett with a pitch who would later come around to score on a sacrifice fly by Wells.
That lead held up until the fifth inning, when Snider launched a first-pitch offering from Slowey. It carried more than 400 feet over the wall in centre field and moved the Jays in front 2-0.
