The magical rise to stardom, similar to Chicago’s, continued in Toronto Wednesday night as Chris Colabello and Justin Smoak went deep en route to an easy 10-3 Blue Jays victory over Oakland. The victory, number 10 in a row, also pushed the Blue Jays over New York for sole possession of the American League East by 1/2 game. But the mission is far from complete.
Colabello nailed his 11th homer, a three-run shot, with one out in the first off Oakland starter Aaron Brooks. The young A’s pitcher lasted just 1 2/3 innings against the offensively stocked Blue Jays, yielding eight earned runs off six hits, walking two and fanning a pair. Smoak, who isn’t known for his batting average, put a Felix Doubront pitch into the seats for his 11th homer, a three-run shot in the second inning. Josh Donaldson contributed with a 2-4 performance, knocking in two more runs to increase his MLB-leading total to 85. Jose Bautista went 2-4 while newly acquired Troy Tulowitzski went 1-3 and drew a walk.
Rogers Centre packed the house with 44,597 who witnessed the Blue Jays run off their second consecutive 10-game winning streak this season, the first time an American League team has done so since 1977 (Kansas City) and the first in the bigs since 2013 (Atlanta). Having been without a World Series title since their back-to-back wins in 1992 and 1993, Toronto’s faithful fans finally have something to get excited about. Knuckleball sensation R.A. Dickey (7-10) went six innings, giving up a Danny Valencia souvenir and two additional runs, fanning two while walking a pair.
Being active before the July 31 trade deadline certainly hasn’t hurt Blue Jays chances, but not being active could’ve destroyed the Yankees’ hopes of winning the East. Tulo, Ben Revere, and Price have cost Toronto little, although Price is considered a rental. Should anyone hope to catch the Blue Jays, scouring the waiver claim list may prove fruitful.
To keep their streak alive Thursday, Toronto must solve Jesse Chavez (6-11, 3.73 ERA) who has allowed four Toronto runners in their last 32 AB, but is facing a new-look offense running up scoreboards (611 runs, leads MLB). The Blue Jays will counter with Mark Buehrle (12-5, 3.34 ERA) who has tamed Oakland over his last seven contests (5-1, 2.51 ERA), winning his last road start there 7-1.
