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Despite pitcher injuries and poor plate appearances, the Blue Jays found some Night Mode Magic
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Photo credit: © Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
Veronica Chung
Jun 1, 2024, 11:00 EDTUpdated: Jun 1, 2024, 11:05 EDT
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Gone were the cheerful celebrations and rowdy crowd from the City Connect jersey launch. Silence ruled as the Toronto Blue Jays made futile efforts to score against the Pittsburgh Pirates for six innings straight. The spark from the new pitch blue jersey didn’t translate to on-field performance, and the Pirates seemed to have taken the momentum away from Toronto. The Blue Jays seemed doomed from the beginning despite their best attempts. 
Pittsburgh wasn’t any better either. Toronto’s starting pitcher José Berríos put up a show by rendering the Pirates’ lineup helpless until the top of the fifth inning. There wasn’t much Berríos could do when beloved designated hitter Andrew McCutchen drove in a run to put the Pirates ahead of the Blue Jays. 
Toronto had to bide its time until they received the blessings from the baseball gods to score a single run at the bottom of the seventh. Now, all they needed to do was score one more run to beat Pittsburgh and end the game by the top of the ninth. Little did they know, the fickle baseball gods weren’t quite done playing a cruel game with the Blue Jays just yet. 
To put it bluntly, the Blue Jays squandered the chances to score each inning after the seventh inning. The team put runners on base but could never put together a threatening offensive display against the Pirates’ pitchers. When both Toronto and Pittsburgh couldn’t score any longer, it was evident that the extra innings were inevitable. 
The 2024 Toronto Blue Jays no longer had enough power to bail themselves out. Nonetheless, they also had more unreliable pitching, which immediately put them in jeopardy as they headed into the tenth inning. While the Blue Jays and the Pirates didn’t score any runs, even their ghost runners, during the tenth, their long journey to the end of the game was only starting now. 
What transpired after a nerve-wracking tenth inning was an enigmatically gripping but frustrating series of plate appearances. The most infuriating part of these languishing extra-innings was that both teams scored their ghost runners each inning. This also meant that the Blue Jays should have capitalized on opportunities to end the game in their favour quickly. 
Unable to break the never-ending cycle of a tie game, the Blue Jays and the Pirates entered the fourteenth inning against their will. After allowing three ghost runners to score in each inning after the tenth inning, Toronto successfully prevented Pittsburgh’s ghost runner from scoring, thus holding the score to 3-3. 
The Blue Jays’ relievers were far from perfection during this game, but they exhibited a flash of brilliance. This was the version of the bullpen the team needed to win more games, and their performance on Friday night was proof that Toronto’s relief pitching wasn’t in complete shambles. 
A happy ending is something the Blue Jays desperately wanted and needed as they started the bottom of the fourteenth. But when third baseman Ernie Clement and centre fielder Kevin Kiermaier weakly grounded out, the pressure rested on second baseman Davis Schneider. With only one more out to go, Toronto needed to get the ghost runner home to finish the languid game once and for all. 
And Davis Schneider did just that. He clubbed a home run into the visitors’ bullpen with one powerful swing to not only score the ghost runner but also himself. Schneider did something that seemed impossible while writing the history for the first walk-off win for the Blue Jays in the 2024 season. Needless to say, this unbelievably incredible win ignited magic within the team.
However, that elusive magic comes with a big caveat for Toronto. The magical moment for the Blue Jays came after backbreaking grinds and after many hasty, inconsistent plate approaches. 
Let’s also remember that the team’s pitching staff isn’t exactly at their healthiest either. Starting pitcher Alek Manoah was just placed on a 15-day injured list, and closer Jordan Romano sat out the Friday night game after experiencing some soreness around his elbow. Relievers Chad Green and Yariel Rodriguez are slowly making their way back to the majors after their injuries. Nothing has gone the Blue Jays’ way in the pitching department, and that worrisome trend is unfortunately here to stay.
As the Blue Jays relish their win to kick off the weekend, they will have to come up with backup plans to produce a new recipe for success. Their pitching staff remains thin and their lineup is still easy to pitch to, spelling impending disaster. 
Toronto isn’t a lost cause, and the team can get back to a winning record. But if there aren’t enough players stepping up to fill in the holes, they could spiral in no time. Perhaps, this uncomfortable truth is the reason why sweet victories add heavier weight each time. 

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