Blue Jays come back, blow it, come back again for wild win

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By all accounts, Kevin Gausman is a valued teammate and a veteran leader whose voice is heard and respected by his fellow Blue Jays.

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But when it came to the ultimate support in the form of scoring runs in baseball games, that had been sorely lacking for far too long for the veteran right-hander.

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A trip to Milwaukee’s American Family Field and a desperate, high-drama rally may have changed that as the Jays scored as wild of a comeback win as you can imagine, a 9-7 extra-innings thriller to kick off a nine-game, three-city road trip in dramatic style.

Long after Gausman had exited, the offence had roused from its slumber, setting the stage for the madness that awaited. The fun started with a three-run top of the ninth to put the Jays up 6-4 with their first lead of the night.

Easy, right?

Nope. Instead, the Jeff Hoffman experience (the bad version) returned in ugly and spectacular fashion for a blown save as the Brewers scored two of their own to send the opener of the three-game series to extras. In the moment, even though the score was still tied, it felt as though the Jays were headed to their worst loss of an already frustrating season.

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Instead, a three-run 10th, thanks to doubles from Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Myles Straw — who had entered during the previous inning as a pinch-runner — kept the Jays on the right side of the rollercoaster.

Our takeaways from a win, in which the Jays had three-run rallies in the top of both the ninth and 10th innings, that improved the Blue Jays’ record to 7-9 with their first road victory of the season.

Anatomy of a rally

One of the benefits of having a starter such as Gausman doing his thing is that the Jays are rarely out of a game when he pitches.

So yes, they trailed 3-0 after a three-run homer from the Brewers’ Jake Bauers in the fourth inning, but the offence for once had his back and gradually chipped away at the lead.

Solo homers from Andres Gimenez in the fifth and Daulton Varsho in the sixth (his third in four games) gave the Jays a glimmer of hope, especially when the ninth inning arrived and the Brew Crew held a slim 4-3 lead.

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The pivotal ninth inning began with an Eloy Jimenez walk followed by Davis Schneider’s money double off the centre-field wall. A single by Kazuma Okamoto drove Jimenez home to tie the game. Schneider scored on an Andres Gimenez ground out and what turned out to be the biggest of insurance runs came on a single from leadoff hitter Ernie Clement that brought Okamoto home from second.

The Jays needed every bit of it, however, as Hoffman allowed a pair of runs and left the bases loaded for his successor and eventual game-winner, Louis Varland.

Closing questions?

Jays manager John Schneider has been steadfast in his support of Hoffman, adamant that the right-hander is his closer.

But after Tuesday’s collapse, there was predictable outrage from some quarters, especially given how efficient the always intense Varland was in getting the final out in the ninth and dominating in shutting the door in the 10th?

Hoffman laboured from the start as he managed just two outs while allowing a pair of hits and walking three as the Brewers scored a pair of runs. He threw 32 pitches, just 14 for strikes.

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Varland certainly bailed out Hoffman, striking out Joey Ortiz with the bases loaded to take the game to extras, where he held the Brewers to one run in the 10th. The more Varland pitches the more he thrives on leverage opportunities as his work on Tuesday certainly showed.

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Starting help is on the way

There’s still a we’ll-believe-it-when-we-see-it element to the recuperating Blue Jays starters, but Schneider’s pre-game updates on Tuesday were the most optimistic they have been all season in that department.

First up is last year’s emerging star, Trey Yesavage, who is scheduled to pitch in Rochester on Wednesday for the Blue Jays’ triple-A affiliate Buffalo Bisons.

The plan is for Yesavage to throw 65 pitches over four innings, and if all goes well, it’s a possibility that the young right-hander could join the team in Phoenix for a possible start in Anaheim at the back end of this trip. Yesavage’s velocity has been on the climb, leading to optimism that he is close to a return to the major leagues.

Not far behind him — possibly two starts in the minors — is veteran Jose Berrios who is battling back from elbow issues and is slated to start for the class-A Dunedin Blue Jays on Thursday.

Quick Hits

The Jays are going to need some work on their ABS challenge discipline and strategies, using both of their challenges by the top of the third inning. The first was a dubious call by catcher Brandon Valenzuela and the second another reach by Gimenez with one out and nobody on … The nine-game road trip matches a season-long for the Jays and begins a stretch of 22 games in 23 days … The Jays began the roadie with a gruesome minus-25 in run differential, second-worst in the majors.

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