Blue Jays Crush Athletics With Needed Offensive Outburst

TORONTO — There's an obvious difference between a 90-win team and a 40-win team.

It may not manifest every game, but over the course of a season, or even a series, the talent divide shows. That cavernous gap was clear in Sunday's 12-1 Blue Jays win over the Athletics.

Playoff teams put up runs early and often. They hit leadoff homers, carve through opposing lineups, and run away with wins. The Blue Jays want to be that 90-win postseason team and commanding wins like Sunday's prove they can get there.

"This group is special, this group was cool, they get it," manager John Schneider said. "They don't try to do too much when things aren't going great. And hopefully, we can get a little bit of a roll."

The first inning encapsulated the discrepancy between the two American League sides. Oakland's Esteury Ruiz swung out of his helmet twice in the A's opening at-bat, contorting his body in the batter's box as he wildly lashed past Yusei Kikuchi's first breaking ball. Toronto's starter mowed through his first three batters on 15 pitches — two strikeouts and a soft grounder back to the mound.

Kikuchi carried the momentum of his opening frame for seven total frames, allowing just four of the 25 Oakland batters he faced to reach base. While Kikuchi leaned heavily on his fastball, he did damage with a pair of breaking pitches. The lefty combined for 10 whiffs across his curveball and slider, on top of 12 called strikes.

"I think the curveball was just kind of the difference maker today," Schneider said. "And then when you have 96, that it makes it play even more."

The Japanese lefty tallied one final strikeout in the eighth, dropping a tumbling curveball below the zone on his 101st pitch of the afternoon. The breaking ball slid just under the bat of Oakland's JJ Bleday, buckling the DH to one knee for the out.

While the A's struggled to reach against Kikuchi, the Jays had no problem busying the base paths. In Toronto's first at-bat, George Springer watched only one pitch pass him by. On the second delivery of Luis Medina's outing, the Blue Jays' leadoff hitter slashed a long drive to left. The ball landed 12 rows deep in the outfield, giving the Jays a 1-0 lead and Springer his 55th career leadoff homer.

In recent weeks, offense has been a scarce resource for the Blue Jays. But on Sunday, baserunners came with ease. Oakland's Medina handed Toronto save free baserunners alone, and the Jays notched four runs in the first three innings. Pouring things on late, the Blue Jays reached their second-highest run total of the season (12) and notched seven runs in back-to-back games for the first time since early May.

"That kind of gives you a big exhale," Schneider said. "Deep breath and you say 'okay, it's coming'."

On Sunday, it all came together for Toronto. A heavy dose of offense met shutdown pitching for a commanding win. But, it's easy to look like a playoff team against an Athletics team on pace for 40 wins. Now, the Blue Jays have to do it for the next three months.