Blue Jays approach the quarter mark with offence humming after blowout sweep in Seattle

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After finishing off a three-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners on Sunday, a dominant string that seemingly came out of nowhere, suddenly the Blue Jays’ season has a significantly brighter hue.

The visitors took care of business in explosive style on Sunday at T-Mobile Park, bringing out the brooms for their expansion cousin Mariners in a non-competitive blowout 9-1 win.

The season-high run output allowed manager John Schneider’s squad to reach the cusp of the quarter mark of the season with a welcome return to .500 at 20-20.

Things that may or may not surprise you through the first 40 games, including the record that at times felt much worse than where it is today thanks to this latest burst.

• George Springer, so underwhelming last year and again in spring training, belted a three-run homer in the fifth inning on Sunday to help open up a big lead over the Mariners. Not only did it continue a recent hot streak for Springer, his fifth homer of the season tied him for the team lead as he remains one of Toronto’s most important batters.
• After a miserable start to the six-game western road trip — with ugly losses to the Angels in the first two games — the Jays have now won four in a row, matching a season-long winning streak.
• The sweep was the first in a three-game series against the Mariners since 1991. It also cooled off one of the hottest teams in the American League.
• The Blue Jays won all three in Seattle without the services of Anthony Santander, who injured his left shoulder while chasing down a foul ball into the stands Thursday night in Anaheim. On Sunday, they also were without the services of centre fielder Daulton Varsho, who continues to nurse his surgically repaired right shoulder.
• For a team that lagged as one of the most inefficient offences in baseball, the Jays are suddenly a scoring machine. With the nine runs on Sunday, they now have scored 29 runs in that four-game winning streak. That’s exponentially greater than the 3.5 (or thereabouts) they had been averaging for much of the season prior.
• Despite the modest record, which still has to be considered a mild disappointment, the Jays are well within shouting distance of playoff positions, both the AL division lead (three games) and wild card (1.5 games).
• Springer’s 416-foot blast was further evidence of his resurgent work at the plate, a no-doubter that sent the game on its way to blowout territory. A far too rare occurrence for the Jays. Toronto bats belted a prolific 49 hits over the past four games.
• True momentum needs more than one four-game winning streak, but the encouraging signs on offence are at least showing some signs of sustainability. It was, after all, just four days previous that the Jays were scuffling through a four-game losing streak and things felt spiralling out of control.
• The Seattle sweep was the Jays’ first in more than a month (vs. Boston on April 29-May 1.)

GOTTA SEE IT

The Addison Barger magic continued with a line drive home run in the seventh inning, his first of the season. Barger was the most prolific batter in the Mariners series, with three doubles in a 6-4 win on Friday.

Barger’s home run came with such a mighty swat that it knocked the batting helmet off his head.

In his team’s four-game winning streak, Barger had six runs batted in. Barger’s five hits in the Mariners series all left the bat at over 107 miles per hour.

With production like that, how difficult is it going to be for Schneider to keep the powerful hitter with the power arm out of the lineup now?

INJURY WARD

The Jays’ winning streak was accomplished despite a depleted lineup put forth by Schneider on Sunday.

As mentioned, Santander and Varsho were both out, as was second baseman Andres Gimenez, who is on the 10-day injured list (right quad). To make matters worse, Alejandro Kirk had to exit the game with an apparent head injury after he was hit on the noggin with a bat.

The Jays could ill afford to lost Kirk for a sustained period, especially now that he’s starting to show some life at the plate.

UP NEXT

After a long flight home from the Pacific Northwest, the Jays will have an off day on Monday before commencing a nine-game home stand, their longest of the season to date. A three-gamer against the Rays begins on Tuesday followed by three each against the Tigers and Padres.