Blue Jays show signs of life with shocking comeback win over Twins

Kevin Gausman was doomed from the start. With the Minnesota Twins consistently pestering Gausman for nearly two years, the odds were already stacked against the Toronto Blue Jays. To put it bluntly, Toronto didn’t seem to have much hope as the team continued its inglorious slide with an unimpressive 18-21 record. Facing the red-hot Twins didn’t seem to help the Blue Jays’ case either. 

Unfortunately, Gausman wasn’t the Blue Jays’ crown jewel on Saturday. It was evident that the Twins figured out how to effectively attack his pitches and location. In a span of only three innings, Gausman surrendered seven singles, two doubles and a home run and gave up seven runs to Minnesota. As Gausman exited after the top of the third inning, he now had a 6.50 ERA in his 13 career starts against the Twins. Thankfully, shortstop Bo Bichette launched a home run to get the Blue Jays on board, but that didn’t change the fact that Minnesota was up six runs. 

The Twins were up with a score of 7-1 when the top of the third ended. Everything was going their way, and at that point, there was no doubt that Minnesota was going to hand the Blue Jays another agonizing loss. But then, Toronto started putting together good plate appearances as soon as the bottom of the third inning began. Right fielder Davis Schneider and centre fielder Daulton Varsho doubled, and first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled to bring the score up to 7-3. 

Even with a sign of life from the Blue Jays’ offence, the Twins were ready to sap the Blue Jays’ morale as catcher Ryan Jeffers homered at the top of the fourth inning against reliever Zach Pop to bring up the Twins’ lead to five runs. The 2021 iteration of the Blue Jays would have crushed the opposing pitching easily to take the lead back. But these were the 2024 Blue Jays, and they haven’t been able to punish pitchers around the league so far. All hope seemed lost as Toronto failed to score any runs at the bottom of the fourth. 

Oddly enough, something sparked within the Blue Jays’ lineup as Schneider opened up the bottom of the fifth by clubbing a home run way over left fielder Alex Kirilloff to cut down the Twins’ lead to half. Shortly after Guerrero Jr.’s single, catcher Danny Jansen lobbed a home run to almost the exact same spot as Schneider to put the score at 8-6. 

By the time the bottom of the sixth rolled around, the Blue Jays had learned how to wait for their pitches and meticulously executed their at-bats. Toronto’s offence forced the Twins’ relievers to earn their outs as they took advantage of every chance to make meaningful moves for the team. The Blue Jays yielded three singles and one walk against relievers Cole Sands and Steven Okert. Consequently, these productive approaches from the Blue Jays’ lineup successfully erased Minnesota’s lead.