海角社区官网

After back-to-back bullpen blow-ups聽led to a pair of Milwaukee wins, they聽salvaged the finale by getting back to the things that propelled them to first place in the American League East.

The relentless, opportunistic offence was back in Sunday’s 8-4 win and the relief corps was close to perfect in bailing out Max Scherzer, who left after four innings with upper-back tightness.

But five shutout innings from Brendon Little, Tommy Nance, Louis Varland, Seranthony Dom铆nguez and Jeff Hoffman doesn’t erase a month of shoddy work, though it did get the Jays bullpen ERA for August below 5.00 鈥斅�4.76, 24th in the majors for the month.

Outside those two crappy innings, the Jays and Brewers were even through the first two games, which seemed about right. The teams are almost mirror images with scrappy offences, not enough home runs and shaky bullpens. The Brewers have a big advantage in starting pitching, but on Sunday the Jays put up eight runs (six earned) on 10 hits against Brandon Woodruff, arguably the best pitcher in team history.

The big right-hander took a 3.10 ERA into the game and hadn’t allowed more than five hits in nine starts since returning from shoulder surgery and a couple of rehab setbacks.

In the first inning alone, the Jays matched their entire offensive output of the first two games combined (three runs).

First baseman Andrew Vaughn threw away what should have been an inning-ending double-play ball from Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and two batters later聽Nathan Lukes聽stickhandled a two-run double down the left-field line to tie it, then scored on a single by Ernie Clement, playing despite a hairline fracture in his left hand.

“You’ve got to go mind over matter and just suck it up and go out there and do your job,” said Clement, batting .275 after a two-hit day. “It can kind of lock you in a little bit. I’ve got to be on the barrel or it’s going to hurt pretty good.”

Three straight two-out hits in the fourth, the last by Guerrero to snap a personal 0-for-17, put the Jays on top for good.

In the fifth, four consecutive hits scored three runs with the big blows an RBI double by Tyler Heineman, that somehow threaded the needle in left-centre, and a two-run Myles Straw single through a聽 drawn-in infield.

“That was huge ... We got back to doing what we do where it’s kind of the聽other guys, you know what I mean?”聽 manager John Schneider said after the Jays’ 79th win of the season.聽聽

The unsung heroes were back. The only Jays starter without a hit was Bo Bichette, who leads the majors in hits with 172.

The bullpen took it from there, despite a white-knuckle fifth.聽Brendon Little gave up a leadoff single. Christian Yelich followed with a weak comebacker that Little reached for, missed, then fell over trying to pick it up.

William Contreras hit another one-hopper back to Little, who fielded it and looked to third, but Clement wasn’t there yet. He turned to second, but there was no play. So, he turned and fired to first. Guerrero bobbled it. Everybody safe. Cue the circus music.

“It’s a couple weak-contact plays,” Schneider said. “If you could do them over again, you record at least one out on (each of) those two. I think it would have been easy for guys to kind of turtle.”

But not this time.

Little got yet another comebacker and made a terrific play for the out at home plate, then unheralded Tommy Nance came in for two huge outs.

After allowing at least one run in six straight outings, Louis Varland followed Nance and retired all five hitters he faced. Seranthony Dom铆nguez worked a perfect eighth and Jeff Hoffman a shutout ninth.

It was the second time in the last four games that the beleaguered Jays bullpen threw at least four shutout innings, which only shines a brighter light on how shaky they were the rest of the month.

It felt worse, but the Jays wound up 15-12 in August and only lost a half-game from their division lead in the bargain.

Now on to Cincinnati and September, where the real fun starts.