Blue Jays hoping to make a case for momentum

Baseball may rely on data analytics the most of North America's professional sports, but the Toronto Blue Jays are trying to make a case for the intangibles of the game.

TORONTO – Baseball may rely on data analytics the most of North America’s professional sports, but the Toronto Blue Jays are trying to make a case for the intangibles of the game.

Toronto earned two consecutive come-from-behind victories over the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday and Thursday, erasing deficits of seven runs and two runs respectively. The two victories over their American League East rivals helped the Blue Jays move ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays for third in the division and stay within range of second-place Boston.

But, for manager John Schneider, it could mean more as Toronto has lost seven of its past 10 games.

“Whether people believe it or not, I think momentum is a real thing in this game, and there’s definitely emotion that goes into it.” Schneider said after the Blue Jays beat the Red Sox 4-2 on Thursday night after topping the visitors 7-6 in 10 innings. “So 2-0 is a lot easier to come back from than 6-0, I think that’s kind of what the guys were thinking.

“It takes one swing, you know? It takes one swing to get things turned around like it did yesterday, like it did today, and hopefully it kind of balances itself out. But I think momentum is a real thing.”

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s three-run home run in the eighth inning was the one swing that turned things around on Thursday.

Guerrero came to the plate with two on and one out and the Blue Jays trailing 2-1. He saw seven pitches from Boston reliever Justin Slaten, launching an 85.8 m.p.h. curveball into the left-field stands for the Blue Jays’ first lead of the game. His fourth home run of the season scored Nathan Lukes and Bo Bichette.

“I’ve always said, we never give up. We know we never give up,” said Guerrero through traslator Hector Lebron. “Regardless of the score, we could be down 18-3, 18-4 whatever it is, we’re gonna still go out there and compete.”