Blue Jays lose Daulton Varsho to hamstring injury, but win fourth straight in homer-fest vs. Athletics

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Just when it appeared the Blue Jays had turned a corner, they suffered a turn for the worse in the third inning of Saturday’s wild 8-7 win over the visiting Athletics.

After George Springer launched a first-pitch offering into the centre-field camera well for his seventh homer of the season, Daulton Varsho sent a blast off the to of the wall in left.

As Varsho was motoring around second base in quest of a triple, he pulled up, grabbing his left hamstring in pain.

After hobbling into third base, where he was an easy out — A’s third baseman Max Schuemann even helped him to the ground after making the tag — the Jays base-runner limped off the Rogers Centre field with the assistance of a coach and trainer.

It was a cruel blow to Varsho, a true gamer who missed the opening month of the schedule recovering from off-season shoulder surgery.

Almost from the time he was cleared to play, Varsho has provided the Jays with much needed power while his defence in centre field is second to none.

Officially, Varsho left the game because of “discomfort in his left hamstring.” Unofficially, the injury did not look good.
Even an amateur doctor could sense that an absence of four to six weeks is in Varsho’s future.

The following are three takeaways on an afternoon that seemed as if it might go on forever when the two teams combined for 10 runs in the first two innings, but ultimately gave the Jays their fourth win in a row, their sixth straight at home and bumped their record to 30-28:

1. Century mark

Not much attention has been placed on Bo Bichette, but credit must be thrown his way.

He isn’t the ideal leadoff hitter, but Bichette’s stroke is certainly back, making most people forget the horror show that was last season.

Technically, this could be Bichette’s final season in Toronto given his status as a pending free agent.

If he’s able to sustain his current pace — and the Jays are unwilling or unable to re-sign him — there should be a rental market for Bichette, 27, at the trade deadline if the club finds a suitor willing to offer a top prospect.

In the meantime, he’s been raking. He went deep on Saturday — a line-drive shot into left-centre — for his third dinger in the past four games. It also made him the first Blue Jays shortstop in franchise history to reach 100 career homers.

2. Springer dinger

The veteran outfielder launched two long balls in the win to move him into a tie with Varsho for the club lead with eight.

With Anthony Santander (shoulder) on the injured list and Varsho destined to join him, more power from the likes of Springer, and Bichette, will be required.

Saturday turned into a mini home run derby with the teams combining to hit seven of them, four of those being launched in the first two innings.

Each one was a no-doubter, including a two-run blast in the second by Pickering’s own Denzel Clarke.

For Clarke, who went hitless in his first 20 major-league at-bats — 16 of those resulting in strikeouts — it was his first career home run after marking his first run and RBI one night earlier.

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3. May Day

And so ends the Jays’ May stretch of games, a period that saw the team go 16-12 overall, 10-6 at home.

The longest losing streak of the month was four games, while twice the Jays produced four-game winning streaks, including the current four-game stretch to end the month.

Against the woeful Athletics, who lost for the 16th time in their past 17 games, the Jays have managed to score a combined 31 runs in three games.

The Jays will now attempt to complete the four-game sweep in Sunday’s series finale.

Up next

The first of June may usher in the first appearance of the season for veteran relief pitcher Erik Swanson, who has been on the injured list because of a forearm issue. The right-hander rejoined the Blue Jays on Saturday and is on the cusp of adding experience and depth to the bullpen. He provided the Blue Jays with 39.1 innings last season … RHP Kevin Gausman is Toronto’s scheduled starter in the series finale. In his past two starts, he earned a win in each, allowing just one run in 15.0 innings, while recording 15 strikeouts.

fzicarelli@postmedia.com