In what will likely be Toronto’s final series at the Oakland Coliseum, the Blue Jays took two of three from the Oakland A’s and are now 32-33 on the season and only two games back of a Wild Card spot. It’s only June and it may be very early to be talking about playoff positioning, but every game has mattered and will matter from this point out, especially against inferior teams like Oakland.

This weekend was filled with several talking points such as Spencer Horwtiz being elevated to the major league roster, Cavan Biggio being DFA’d, and Yusei Kikuchi showing off his middle linebacker capabilities. None of those made the cut for my Three Key Things from this weekend, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t more to talk about.

Whole lot of zero’s from the starting pitching

In 2023-type fashion, the Blue Jays got a couple of golden outings from their starting pitching. Chris Bassitt got things started on Friday night, tossing eight innings and allowing only four hits, one earned run, two walks, and seven strikeouts, but he would not factor into the decision in a 2-1 Blue Jays loss. Bassitt’s only earned run came from a wild pitch he threw in the bottom of the sixth, which was an unfortunate error considering the mode in which he got his outs after putting runners on the corners with no outs – strikeout, ground out, pop out- may have been enough to get him out of the inning unscathed.

After his outing on Friday, Bassitt’s ERA had been lowered to 3.80, the lowest it has been since the start of the season. It was his third consecutive outing with seven strikeouts, and he has allowed five hits or less in six of his last seven outings. He generated 15 whiffs on the night, with six coming against his curveball.

Dominating on the mound was part of a big weekend for Bassitt physically, but it was also a big weekend for him emotionally. After striking out Miguel Andújar to end his night, Bassitt reached down and collected some dirt from the pitching mound. That mound was home to Bassitt between 2015 and 2021 while he was a starter for the Athletics, and as he said after the game, “I don’t know if I’ll ever see this place again.” On Saturday morning, Bassitt also took all of the pitchers and staff to the very top of the stadium to see Mount Davis, a tarp-covered section containing the Oakland logo and their retired numbers.

Just a matter of hours after Bassitt’s stellar performance, Kevin Gausman stole the show by pitching the first complete game shutout of his career. Gausman went start to finish allowing five hits, one walk, and ten strikeouts. It was the second time this season that Gausman had struck out 10 batters, and he dropped his ERA to an even 4.00, the lowest it has been since after his May 4th start against the Nationals.

The most reassuring thing for Gausman in this outing was the effectiveness of the splitter, generating 13 whiffs with it. He still used the fastball when needed, much like in the below clip when he froze Tyler Soderstrom to escape a jam with runners on second and third with two outs.

Entering Sunday’s game, the Blue Jays only used Chad Green for one pitch in the series in terms of bullpen usage, which is exactly what John Schneider and Pete Walker needed considering Sunday was going to likely feature a lot of bullpen arms. Despite this, it’s definitely worth mentioning that Bowden Francis threw four shutout innings Sunday afternoon with three hits, one walk, and three strikeouts.

In total, Toronto’s starters went 21 innings and allowed only one earned run with four walks and twenty strikeouts this weekend.

The streak is over

On Friday night, the Blue Jays set an American League record by going 29 straight games without scoring a run in the first inning. Call it a fluke or not, but it was still a thing, and it wasn’t necessarily a good one. Well, the Blue Jays ended that streak on Saturday afternoon, scoring a run in the first inning and missing the record by two games. Now, let’s not be greedy. The Jays only scored the one run. Oakland starter Luis Medina walked the bases loaded with one out, and Danny Jansen cashed in Horwitz with a sacrifice fly. Blue Jays fans can safely say they know more about the 1937 Boston Bees than they did before this season.

First inning discourse aside, the Blue Jays had their offense producing very well on Saturday, especially in the fifth inning when they plated five runs. At one point in that frame, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, and Jansen hit three consecutive doubles, and the Jays would ultimately go on to bat around in the inning.

Although it wasn’t needed, Justin Turner provided an RBI single in 9th inning to complete the 7-0 final score. After an abysmal month of May, Turner is hitting .348 to start June with two doubles, an RBI, and two walks.

This series is not won without IKF

A lot of credit deserves to go to the pitching staff for only allowing six runs through the entirety of the series, but Isiah Kiner-Falefa was the offensive MVP this weekend.

IKF went 4-for-10 this weekend with six RBIs and a walk, bringing his season slash line to .275/.319/.394. He had a career-best 5 RBI-day on Sunday, including a tie-breaking three-run double in the top of the 10th to put the Blue Jays ahead for good. While giving him the clutch gene is warranted (also see his walk off hit last week against Baltimore), Kiner-Falefa is showing how good he is at putting the ball in play when need be. He’s not swinging for the fences or itching for the five-run homer; he’s trying to do what he can to help his team win, and he’s definitely doing his part.

Kiner-Falefa hit a two-run single in the second inning of Sunday’s game, and that would be the last time that the Blue Jays had a hit until the top of the 8th inning. In a season where batting averages are taking a dip all around, IKF is staying well above those averages and proving his worth on this team.





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