Ladies and gentlemen, we have a sweep.

Amidst three somber and feeble crowds in the south side of Chicago, the Blue Jays swept the White Sox, marking Toronto’s first sweep since September of last season. Here are my Three Key Things as to how it happened.

The White Sox are bad. Like, historically bad. Like, the worst start in team history bad.

With that being said, this was an ideal opportunity for the Blue Jays to rebound from last weekend’s disappointment in Detroit. Consider that they would be missing Chicago’s best starters in Garrett Crochet and Erick Fedde – the former dominating the Blue Jays just a week ago – and you could’ve marked this down as a sure sweep for the Jays. Nothing is guaranteed, but the Blue Jays did exactly what they should have.

Toronto’s three starting pitchers allowed only one earned run combined (more on this later), they outscored Chicago 15-4, and they drew 20 walks as they completed a 5-for-6 season record against the league’s worst team.

The Blue Jays are in the middle of a softer spot in their schedule, and they haven’t necessarily taken full advantage of it. Their last ten games have featured six games against the White Sox and four games against the Tigers, and the Jays have only been able to muster a 6-4 record during that stretch. Missing Paul Skenes and Jared Jones this weekend in Pittsburgh can only help them, but with a critical four-game set against the Orioles looming next week, these are the games that Toronto can use to catapult themselves back into Wild Card contention.

Don’t point the finger at either of these guys for any of the team’s offensive struggles.

We’ll start with Davis Schneider, who has made it very easy for his manager to leave him in the leadoff spot. Schneider posted a 4-for-12 line in this series with a home run, five RBIs, two doubles, three walks, and three runs. He’s turning out to be exactly what Toronto has needed from their leadoff guy, whether it’s walking, getting a hit, or driving in runs. Truth be told, he’s been doing this since his promotion to the majors last August.

Schneider’s home run on Monday afternoon was his sixth of the season, and it was a two-run shot that extended Toronto’s lead from two to four in the ninth inning. He led off Tuesday night’s game with a double, and when the lineup turned over to him later in the game with runners in scoring position, he provided an RBI double and a sacrifice fly.

Now to Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who has had a lot to say to those who criticized his two-year, $15 million deal which he signed this past offseason. IFK tacked on three more hits this week, including two doubles and three RBIs, and he also complemented his play at the plate with some really solid defence at third base. He’s now slashing .270/.320/.409 on the season, and if he hasn’t already, he’s earning his spot in the batting order every day.

Looking at things in a closer scope, Kiner-Falefa is slashing .400/.471/.767 with a 1.237 OPS in his last eight games, including two home runs, a triple, three doubles, and zero strikeouts. Not only is he gathering hits, he’s making a lot of loud contact; in that eight-game stretch, he’s put five balls in play at 99 mph or harder. (Note: his home run on 5/23 against Detroit does not have any available Statcast data.)

Finally, while he wasn’t in the headline, it was good to see George Springer post a 5-for-8 series with a home run, two RBIs, and five walks. Friday marked Springer’s first multi-hit game since April 24th.

Toronto has a lot to look back on in a positive way from this series, but they were unfortunately hit with some bad news during Wednesday’s game. Alek Manoah looked incredibly sharp through his first 1.2 innings of work in the series finale, but he left the game in the bottom of the second with right elbow discomfort.

So, the Blue Jays were forced to immediately pivot to their bullpen, and they started with Trevor Richards. Richards was phenomenal, pitching 3.1 innings and needing only 37 pitches to do so. This got the Blue Jays through the fifth inning, and they leaned on Tim Mayza, Zach Pop, Yimi Garcia, and Jordan Romano to close out the remainder of the game.

In total, the bullpen pitched 7.1 innings on Wednesday night, allowing three hits, one run, two walks, and three strikeouts. Yes, this came against the White Sox, but this type of performance is what should be expected from them against that level of opponent.

Toronto does have multiple pitchers on the mend from their respective injuries in Bowden Francis and Yariel Rodriguez, with the former being closer to return than the latter at this current moment. We may see a 2023-esque spot in the rotation if Francis and Richards can serve as the fifth starter together, and the team is certainly hoping Manoah’s injury is as minor as it can be.