Bichette leads way as Blue Jays drop Yanks for record 11th consecutive home win

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Until a little less than three weeks ago, Bo Bichette had never played on a first-place team this late in a big-league season, though he had thought about it often enough.

As the Blue Jays continue to cement their position atop the American League East, the shortstop rather likes the feeling.

“It feels like it’s something we’ve been striving to do,” Bichette said before playing the hero in a 4-1 Jays win over the New York Yankees at a rocking, sold-out Rogers Centre on Monday, the latest magical night in a summer piling up with them.

“It’s the first time in my career. It feels good coming to the park every day with a bunch of teammates that are willing to do whatever it takes to win. When you do that, the best version of yourself will come out.”

It came out again in the opener of a three-game series, on a night when the schedule told you it was Game 100 for both the Jays and the Yankees, but it felt as though it was much more than a beautiful Monday evening in July.

It was a brilliant summer night under an open roof at the downtown dome, a showdown between the top two teams in the division played before a sellout crowd of 41,788, the type of throng that is becoming commonplace for the most exciting Jays team in a decade.

It was a battle early for the Jays on their way to a franchise-record 11th consecutive home win, but the will to win that is becoming the hallmark of this Toronto team took over in the decisive fifth inning.

The big blow of the four-run inning was a two-run double from Bichette to give the Jays their first runs and first lead of the night.

The 27-year-old sensed the importance of the moment as well as he ripped a double into the left-field corner off of Yankees southpaw Carlos Rodon and celebrated animatedly as he reached second and watched first George Springer and then Vlad Guerrero Jr. scamper across home plate.

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“I think I’ve played with joy for a lot of my career,” Bichette said when asked about the uplifting environment of playing on a team that extended its bulge atop the AL East to four games. “But this is just a group of players that make it enjoyable to come to the field.

“Winning helps. I mean it’s something that we all had a goal of, but once you start seeing the wins come across the board, it becomes easier.

“And having a bunch teammates that are willing to do whatever it takes to win makes it easier as well. So it’s been a great group.”

The all-for-one, one-for-all chorus that is driving the narrative for these 59-41 Jays may cause cynics to roll their eyes, but with wins in 17 of their last 21 games — and now four in a row since the all-star break — there’s something real about the vibes.

Witness the reaction to Davis Schneider, two batters after Bichette in the fifth. He fought Rodon through an epic 14-pitch at-bat that eventually resulted in an out, but it certainly softened the Yankees starter. As Schneider was being celebrated in the Jays dugout, a pair of Yankees errors helped the Jays to two more runs.

Witness the festive atmosphere all night as fans from field level to the 500s revelled in what felt like a huge win.

Witness the stellar seven innings from starter Kevin Gausman, who was ace like on the night allowing just four hits while striking out eight with the only blemish a solo Giancarlo Stanton homer in the fourth, the Yankees lone run on the night.

“Any time you can go seven against a division rival is going to be big, especially the first game of the series,” Gausman said. “Resting guys, it’s going to set things up for the rest of the series.”

And witness the celebration as closer Jeff Hoffman recorded his 24th save on his bobblehead night, no less, striking out all three Yankees hitters he faced as the vocal home crowd erupted in celebration.

“I think some of it is personalities,” manager John Schneider said of the clubhouse mentality for a team that is now 6-2 on the season against the Yankees. “Some of it is we’ve shown to be resilient. We’ve shown to just move on to the next thing, whether it’s in game or after a game. They’re pretty well-versed in just saying ‘OK, what’s important right now?’

“It’s nice that they’re a very stable group.”

For further insight into what’s happening with his team, Schneider was asked if he was surprised that these upstart and highly entertaining Jays have a better record than the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

The manager didn’t flinch before his profound response.

“It’s baseball,” Schneider said of his team that now leads the Yankees by four games, the Red Sox by six and the Rays by 7.5 games. “Teams on paper are teams on paper. There’s certain things that aren’t objectively qualified, but we’ve always had a lot of trust in the group. It’s funny how it works out. There’s still 63 games (62 after Monday’s win) and a lot can happen. (But) it kind of shows what guys are made of and they believe they can play with anyone and they should.

“This is where we had hoped to be, where we are really competitive in a tough division.”

It’s also brought the Jays back to a place Bichette remembers when he first took note of the Jays back in 2015, the year before he was drafted by Canada’s team. He was a teenager then, about to get a pro career started, but he recalls being mesmerized by the images of Jose Bautista and Josh Donaldson doing their thing for those engaging Jays.

“I remember they were a super fun team to watch with a lot of great hitters,” Bichette said. “They made splashes at the deadline. The atmosphere in the stadium was always super attractive.

“I don’t really ever remember watching Blue Jays baseball before that. That team put baseball in Toronto on the map.”

The group he’s a part of now is bringing them back in a big and noisy way.

AROUND THE BASES

The resilience Schneider and others speak of in describing these Jays was on display with the Jays remaining undaunted by twice leaving the bases loaded and having nothing to show for it. Central in both of those would-be rallies was doubles by catcher Alejandro Kirk … Bichette’s turnaround season has him second in the majors in hits (115), trailing only the Yankees Aaron Judge (128) while also ranking second in doubles (28.) … The Jays’ incredible run at the dome continues as their home record improved to 36-16 giving them the best winning percentage in the majors (.692.)