Things worth mentioning…

• As I said, this was really the first commanding win of the Blue Jays’ season. Until Friday, only one of their wins (a 5-1 win in Washington) had been by more than three runs. It was nice to finally see the offence kick the doors down and just completely pour it on an opponent for once.
• But as big as the 12-4 final looks, this really didn’t look like it was going to be a rout in Toronto’s favour. It looked to be the opposite, actually. Tampa got off to a quick 3-0 lead, and, with a struggling Tanner Roark on the mound, it appeared that the Rays would blow things open. But Roark managed to grind through four innings, scattering no more than those three earned runs. It was hardly a start to write home about, but he stopped things from getting out of hand.
• In the sixth inning, it again looked like Tampa was ready to pounce and take control of the game, but the Jays managed to wiggle through it. With the game tied at 3-3, Anthony Kay loaded the bases with nobody out and allowed a sac fly to make it 4-3 for the Rays. Charlie Montoyo then made the bold decision to bring Wilmer Font into the game rather than a higher-leverage reliever like Jordan Romano. Font promptly got Jose Martinez to ground into a double play to end the inning. Despite the result, the decision was a bit puzzling.
• After that, the Jays just completely took over. The bats exploded for five runs in the bottom half of the inning, as Randal Grichuk, Bo Bichette, and Teoscar Hernandez each homered. Hernandez added another bomb for insurance later on in the game for good measure. The bullpen was also lights out, as Ryan Borucki, Anthony Bass, and A.J. Cole combined to allow just one base runner over the final three innings.

• A random note… It was pretty nice finally being on the other side of an Aaron Loup meltdown. In the sixth inning, he hit Cavan Biggio and then immediately allowed a homer to Bichette. Being on the other side of that experience was refreshing.

• This is the exciting young team that we were hoping to see this year. This recipe of having a lineup loaded with power bats and a pitching staff loaded with quality arms out of the bullpen is what leads to genuine optimism. Friday night was the first time all season, in my mind, that we’ve seen a well-executed version of what this team can do. This team has a potent lineup that can do damage very quickly and a whole bunch of lethal bullpen arms. Despite a mediocre performance from their starting pitcher and an early 3-0 hole, the Jays flipped the game on its head on the strength of home run power and lockdown relief. You can slowly but surely start to see a good team forming here.

• Though Bo and Teoscar will rightfully get the praise for Friday’s win, we should also point out that Vlad Jr. had himself a strong day at the plate. Going 1-for-3 with a single isn’t overly exciting, but Vlad put together good at-bats in which he wasn’t chasing garbage outside of the zone. During his struggles, we’ve frequently seen him chasing pitches as he’s clearly pressing for a hit. On Friday, he laid off virtually everything outside of the zone and managed two walks. If he keeps having at-bats like this, the hitting will come around.