LEADING OFF: Blue Jays try for 9th W in row, Greinke streak

Toronto, who has a scheduled off-day Monday, stunned the Yankees in New York with a three-game sweep over the weekend, finishing up with a 2-0 shutout on Sunday. The other team scored one run.

Toronto Blue Jays catcher Dioner Navarro (30) congratulates Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Roberto Osuna (54) on getting the save after the ninth inning of the game at Yankee Stadium.

Toronto Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos rolled the dice before the Major League Baseball trade deadline, and the returns have thus far been decidedly positive. The combination of Price, Tulowitzki, Lowe, Revere, and Hawkins turns up just a 1.6 WAR, hardly the kind of improvement that can explain going from eight games out of first place to 1.5 games out in under two weeks. In their last 12 games, they have only allowed more than two runs four times. Donaldson and Tulowitzki are the big names now.

Toronto manager John Gibbons called the series “the most meaningful” the Blue Jays had played in the Bronx for two decades – hardly hyperbole for a franchise that hasn’t made the postseason since its back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and 1993. But his defence has been superb. The fact that he’s back in the pennant race, and he’s had the impact he’s had already with that club, I’m thrilled….

“We got a gift-wrapped present from Toronto, I promise you that”.

The GM’s tour de force came at an ideal time and addressed every significant need. The majority of teams in Major League Baseball can’t afford to do that and attempt to contend. The A’s and their fans would kill for a player like that, which is exactly why the team jumped on versatile utility man Danny Valencia when was designated by the Blue Jays on August 1. “Hey, he made all the moves”.

The Yankees have handled Price and R.A. Dickey in the past. It turned out it wasn’t, because he’s got too many holes in his game. Price’s dominant outings account for two of those 22 starts. But the 24-year-old has pitched much better in the Rogers Centre this year, posting just a 2.69 ERA at home compared to a bloated 9.00 road mark. (And when he pitches, the offence averages almost seven runs per game.). “We’re coming after them”.

Since the break, the Jays’ status as an offensive juggernaut has slipped, but only a bit. Then in the top of the fourth, Bautista homered to left.

But they still hit homers like nobody else, as Yankees fans discovered. He did enough to keep the Yankees in the game and give them a chance to win, but they only mustered three hits all game.

Yankees faithful in earshot reacted with boos and “Let’s go Yankees” chants of their own that drowned out their voluble visitors, but it was the last time on the weekend the home team could claim victory.

In the wake of the sweep, writers and commentators dug deep for superlatives.

In their 11-1 run, the Jays have outscored their foes by 67-32, and their run differential now stands at 597 to 468, or plus 129, dwarfing the next best team in the league, the Astros, who are plus 78.

But overall, the new pieces have fit snugly into the puzzle. While any of these teams could pull off some miraculous winning streak to get them back in the discussion, it is fair to ignore them for the moment. “We haven’t done anything yet but excite our fans”.