TORONTO, CANADA - SEPTEMBER 21: Brett Cecil #27 of the Toronto Blue Jays celebrates after getting the last out of the eighth inning during MLB game action against the New York Yankees on September 21, 2015 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images
Brett Cecil is a lefty with a big hook.
And although opposing batters know that old Uncle Charlie is about to make a call, there is little else they can do but grit their teeth and try to bear it.
In the eighth inning of Monday night's first-place showdown between the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees at Rogers Centre, Brett Gardner, Alex Rodriguez and Brian McCann all knew what was coming.
All three struck out trying to deal with Cecil's devastating curve, the decisive moment in a taut baseball game that the Blue Jays hung on to win 4-2.
"He's been so good lately, a couple months," Toronto manager John Gibbons raved afterward about the relief work of Cecil. "If this all turns out right the way we want it to, we may look back on that inning and think, you know what, that was key.
"We were in a jam. It was still a fairly close game with two guys on. I don't think you give him enough credit. He's one of the better relievers in baseball. He was an all-star two years ago, there's a reason."
Tight it was with the Yankees threatening, happy to see Toronto starter David Price depart after a dominating seven-inning performance in which he stifled the New York offence, yielding just two hits and zero runs.
It was 4-0 for Toronto when Aaron Sanchez took over for Price in the top of the eighth and the young righthander continued a disturbing recent trend of pitching into trouble.
A leadoff off walk to Didi Gregorius on five pitches followed by a single by Dustin Ackley gave New York new life, with runners at first and third and none out.
Gibbons gave the quick hook to Sanchez and brought in Cecil with a couple of lefty New York hitters in Jacoby Ellsbury and Gardner due up.
Ellsbury guided a ground ball up the middle that cashed Gregorius to trim the Toronto lead to 4-1 before Cecil got down to the serious work at hand.
Gardner was called out looking on a 3-2 pitch, while Rodriguez and McCann both struck out swinging – all three victimized by Cecil's deceptive curve ball.
Although Greg Bird stroked a home run off Toronto closer Roberto Osuna with two out in the ninth, it was Cecil's work in the eighth everybody pointed two as the game saver.
"That was very cool," Price said of Cecil's mop-up job. "He did a great job. That's some of the biggest outs that's he's recorded since he's been in the big leagues. Good for him."
Cecil, soft spoken at the best of times, seemed overwhelmed by all the attention being thrown his way after the game. He told reporters he couldn't even take them through that magical eighth inning. "Blacked out there for a little bit," he said.
The 29-year-old has really come on of late, not having allowed an earned run over his last 27 innings while recording 36 strikeouts.
"Once I get two strikes, everybody knows what's coming," Cecil said. "So just try to make a good pitch, a good curve ball, and put them away and move on to the next guy."
In a game in which Toronto extended its first-place lead over the Yankees in the American League East to 3½ games, Cecil was asked if those three outs in the eighth were the biggest of his career.
Cecil tended to agree they were.