The Toronto Blue Jays might be starting to feel a little greedy.
After winning four games in a row and nine of their last 10, the Blue Jays are oozing confidence heading into their series finale against the Minnesota Twins on Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis. They will try to finish off a three-game sweep and climb a season-high seven games over .500.
The Blue Jays’ latest hero, George Springer, will look to stay hot after belting a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning of Saturday’s 5-4 win over the Twins.
“I don’t think we feel like we’re ever out of a game,” said Springer, who is hitting .251 with 10 home runs and 27 RBIs on the season. “We understand each other. We trust each other. It’s one at-bat at a time. One pitch at a time. Don’t try to do too much.
“And you’re starting to see guys are controlling at-bats well and getting it onto the next guy.”
Minnesota will try to avoid a sweep and snap a three-game losing streak.
The Twins already have lost their first home series since mid-April, but coaches and players are confident that the recent skid is not a sign of larger problems.
“We’re not playing poorly,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “We did a lot of good things in that game (on Saturday). You want to hold onto that lead. We’ve got to find a way to pad a little bit and put some more runs on the board. We had some opportunities to do that.”
The big picture gives Baldelli confidence that the Twins can get back on track.
“The last month of baseball has been very nice,” Baldelli said. “Guys have come through in a ton of spots. (Saturday) was a game where we just needed to come through probably one more time, on either side of the ball.”
Blue Jays right-hander Bowden Francis (2-7, 5.84 ERA) will try to complete the sweep in his 13th start. Francis hopes to bounce back from a rough outing against the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday, when he gave up seven runs (six earned) on seven hits in 1 2/3 innings.
Francis has made one relief appearance against the Twins in his career. He allowed one run on two hits in 2 2/3 innings for a 3.38 ERA and got a no-decision in a 9-4 Minnesota victory in June 2023.
Minnesota will counter with right-hander Joe Ryan (6-2, 2.91), who is set to make his 12th start. Ryan has racked up 76 strikeouts in 68 innings this season.
In his most recent outing, Ryan got the victory despite allowing four runs on six hits in five innings against the Athletics last Monday. He walked three and struck out four.
This will be Ryan’s third career start against the Blue Jays. In his first two outings, he went 1-0 with a 2.77 ERA, and he walked one and struck out 11 in 13 innings.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider said his team feels good heading into the series finale.
“With the way we’re playing right now, you kind of expect it,” Schneider said after Saturday’s comeback win. “I think the mindset is a little bit freer, if that makes sense. And doing it against some tough pitching is really cool.”
–Field Level Media
