Blue Jays manager John Schneider laughs off claim by renowned Yankees broadcaster

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As he prepared to see if his Blue Jays could pull off a decisive four-game sweep of the visiting New York Yankees on Thursday, manager John Schneider had an amused reaction to the assertion of a renowned Bronx Bombers broadcaster that the Blue Jays “aren’t a first-place team.”

Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay can take a run at the Blue Jays’ performance all he wants, but after winning three in a row from their division rival, Schneider is more than willing to smile and get a chuckle at it.

Prior to Wednesday’s wild 11-9 win over the Bronx Bombers, Kay, the Yankees television play-by-play voice on the YES Network, was adamant in his view that the Jays weren’t a true top-of-the-heap outfit.

“The Blue Jays are not a first-place team, I’m sorry,” Kay said rather dismissively during his appearance on his radio show that airs on ESPN New York. “If you look at run differential, the Yankees’ run differential is plus-105. The Blue Jays, after a 12-5 win (on Canada Day), finally got to positive yesterday, they’re plus four.

“Do you realize they should be a .500 team because of the plus-4 run differential? And the Yankees should have at least four or five more wins with a plus 105-run differential. They’re not playing great baseball. I’m sorry, they’re not.”

For context, Kay’s remarks were made during a fairly lengthy rant on the Yankees’ struggles of late. Yet they still had some cringe to them.

Whether that analysis was a salve for Yankees fans, who have seen their team skid through a three-game losing that allowed the Jays to move into a tie for the division lead prior to Thursday’s contest, remains to be seen. As Kay trumpets though, their run differential (now at plus-103) is tied for the second-highest in the American League.

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While run-scoring was certainly an issue for the Jays earlier in the season, their recent run up the division has shown a different dimension. Schneider was asked how much the Jays’ ability to take care of the little things — especially base-running — has helped them be four wins better than what the modest run differential (now up to plus 6) would suggest.

“Is Michael Kay here?” Schneider said in a deadpan tone, sitting at his desk in the Blue Jays clubhouse prior to Thursday’s finale of the pivotal four-game series.

“There’s lots of ways to win. There’s not one recipe to win and I think that expected win-loss, yeah, there’s some truth to that. It’s making a play when most other people wouldn’t. It’s taking an extra base when most others wouldn’t, and putting a ball in play when most others wouldn’t. We’re okay with that. That’s how we’re built.

“It may not be sexy, but I think it comes down to being able to do what you’re good at.”