4 Takeaways From the Blue Jays' Wild Sweep Out West

Bo Bichette summed up Toronto's sweep over the Angels best after Sunday's dramatic finale.

"That was crazy," the Blue Jays' shortstop told Sporstnet's Shi Davidi.

It truly was crazy. Game after game with its own unique suspense, excitement, and thrilling ending—always culminating in a Blue Jays victory. The Jays will look to build on the momentum of a five-game road win streak, hosting the White Sox on Tuesday. But before looking forward, here are four takeaways from Toronto's wild sweep of the Halos:

The Clutch Luck Turns

Entering LA, the Blue Jays had a league-worst .178 batting average with runners in scoring position—20 points below the second-worst Pirates and Orioles. Against the Angels, Toronto hit .400 with RISP, cashing 20 hits in 50 opportunities.

Sure the overall hitting was important to put them in that many spots to score, but high leverage execution won them the tight games.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. went four-for-six in his opportunities against the Angels, adding two crucial bases-loaded walks in Sunday’s 11-10 win. Prior to the series in LA, Gurriel was hitting .107 in RISP opportunities. Other Blue Jays who have struggled in clutch spots this year also came up big, with Matt Chapman, Teoscar Hernández, and Raimel Tapia all cashing big runs.

On the other side, the Angels had 18 fewer chances with RISP and 13 fewer hits (hitting .218).

Look at Gurri, man...@yunitogurriel has FIVE RBI today 🍍 pic.twitter.com/scMcVkeTZn
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) May 29, 2022

Manufactured Runs

Criticize the manager all you want, but Blue Jays skipper Charlie Montoyo plucked all the right notes on offense in the series sweep out west.

His pinch hitters came up clutch and bench runners dashed around the bases to score all series long. Regularly emptying the bench, Montoyo’s pinch hitters finished the four-game series with three hits in three at-bats and added three walks.

With old friend Aaron Loup coming out of the. Los Angeles' bullpen to protect a one-run lead on Friday, Montoyo called on his bench bats. He hit Danny Jansen for Raimel Tapia, pinch ran Bradley Zimmer for Jansen after the catcher singled, and added a Matt Chapman pinch hit for Cavan Biggio a batter later. Stealing the platoon advantage from Loup, the righty-stacked lineup tied the game in the seventh with Zimmer coming around to score the run on a Chapman base knock.

On the season the Blue Jays have used the 13th-most pinch hitters in baseball, and have received a .414 on-base percentage from those late-game hitters.

A Year Of Manoah Dominance

Lost in the chaos, confusion, and victories of the weekend games was just another dominant Alek Manoah outing in Friday's 4-3 win. The Manoah start came on the anniversary of his MLB debut and was an opportunity to reflect on just how impressive the righty's first year has been.

“I spoke to my mom this morning a little bit about it and kind of just reflected on the year we’ve had,” Manoah told Shi Davidi, “and super grateful, super blessed for everything we’ve been able to do and super excited about what’s coming.”

The Manoah name is already plastered in franchise record books—he’s got one of the lowest ERAs and most strikeouts by a Blue Jays pitcher through his first 29 starts, and the 24-year-old is only improving. The strikeout stuff was obvious in his rookie season, with 10.2 K/9 and plenty of double-digit K games. But this year the control hasn’t wavered either.

Manoah has halved his walk rate so far this season, leading to an even lower 3.15 FIP. On Friday, he struck out nine Angels, including Mike Trout, and walked none.

A Needed Day Off

The Jays used six relievers in Sunday’s 11-10 win over the Angels. If David Phelps hadn’t locked down the ninth inning, Julian Merryweather was the only available arm left in the bullpen.

Toronto used their 'pen for 17.2 total innings across the four-game series, and 10.2 innings in the final two games alone. Jordan Romano was on fumes pitching for the third day in a row for the first time ever on Saturday and there weren't many rested arms by the end of the series.

Luckily, the Jays have an off day on Monday before the White Sox come to town. With a 'pen pushed to their limits to get all four wins in Los Angeles, there could still be some roster moves for fresh Triple A arms before the Jays host Chicago.