Daulton Varsho’s heroics adds much-needed jolt to Blue Jays’ AL East pursuit

Everything came together in that moment for the Blue Jays.

The coaching staff could’ve easily decided to use a pinch hitter for Varsho in that spot, inserting any of their right-handed batters off the bench — which included Davis Schneider, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Myles Straw — to avoid the left-on-left matchup. Instead, they opted to trust their Gold Glove centre-fielder to come through with a clutch hit against Justin Wilson.

Despite being down 0-2 in the count, Varsho turned on a high fastball — the type of pitch that he likely would’ve swung and missed at last season — to break the scoreless tie, connecting on his 20th home run of the season — matching his career-high total as a Blue Jay.

It was the “big hit” that Toronto’s offence had been searching for almost two weeks.

“I’ve been saying for a few days that [it] takes a swing, takes an inning. That’s it,” manager John Schneider told reporters post-game, including MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson. “Varsho was due for a homer. It feels like he’s homered every 10 at-bats since he’s been back here. That’s a huge, huge swing.”

It’s actually been closer to every 12 at-bats that Varsho has homered this season. Still, it’s been a remarkable power surge from the 29-year-old, who’s now gone deep twice in his last five games after snapping a rare 12-game home-run drought.

The power had also dried up for Toronto’s offence lately, too. Prior to Thursday, this club was tied with the Minnesota Twins and Milwaukee Brewers for the fewest round-trippers (three) in the majors since Sep. 17. So, between Varsho’s blast and George Springer’s two-run shot in that same inning, they needed a night like this to kick that trend.

“It felt like that was just taking the monkey off our back a little bit with the past couple of days, with everybody having that pressure and feeling. Today? Let’s go. Just play our game, have fun and enjoy it,” Varsho said.

After dropping the first two games of this series, the Blue Jays entered Thursday tied atop the AL East alongside the surging New York Yankees, with their head-to-head tiebreaker the only thing keeping them in first place. They were on the verge of letting the division slip through their fingers.

Varsho’s grand slam allowed everyone to exhale, even just for a moment, as Toronto avoided being swept by securing a 6-1 victory. But New York was also victorious a night ago, completing a three-game sweep of the Chicago White Sox, ensuring both teams would improve to 91 wins with three games remaining.

For some, this is what meaningful September baseball looks and feels like. It’s the high-stakes, nail-biting action that post-season runs are built on. Even with as stressful as it’s been, you’d be remiss not to cherish and enjoy a special season like this, especially for a franchise that missed the playoffs last season.

“This is fun. This is why we do it,” Schneider said. “This is why everyone in this organization does it. This is why guys sign here. This is why we make the sacrifices we make, and if you approach it that way, I think there’s some freedom in that. Is it hard? Yeah, it’s hard, but [shoot], it’s fun.”

Entering this weekend’s final series versus the Tampa Bay Rays, the Blue Jays still control their own destiny in pursuit of their first division title in a decade. If they win out, the AL East is theirs, regardless of how the Yankees fare.

With Kevin Gausman tentatively lined up to start Sunday’s season finale, though, they’d obviously prefer to clinch the division on Saturday, allowing them to save their ace for Game 1 of the American League division series. But to make Game 162 irrelevant, they’ll need some help from the Baltimore Orioles, who’ll finish this season in the Bronx.

Thursday’s victory is proof that the sky isn’t falling in Toronto. But it sure felt like it for most until Varsho delivered the biggest hit of the season, and hopefully, there’ll be a few bigger ones to follow.