Why Did Blue Jays Give Up on Goins

Blue Jays keep on Goins: Griffin

Grand slam and hidden ball trick surprise Yankees in series opener. Manager John Gibbons can see Blue Jays contending in 2018, but adds "when you have a tough year . . . a couple of new faces, that's important."

All that the Blue Jays have left for bragging rights is to act as spoilers against the Yankees and Red Sox, against whom they play all of their remaining games.

On Friday night, the Jays did their part, downing the Bronx Bombers 8-1 at the Rogers Centre behind the pitching of newly-extended Marco Estrada and the bullpen.

Chief spoiler was Ryan Goins, who stroked his second grand slam of the season in the sixth inning. It was his 10th hit of the year with the bases loaded, tying Carlos Delgado for the franchise record. He is now 10-for-14 (.714) with the sacks full and hitting .337 with runners in scoring position.

What made the slam extraordinary for Goins is that the Jays shortstop had been 0-for-22 lifetime against Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka.

"The numbers are pretty clear," Goins said. "I've never gotten a ball out of the infield off Tanaka, much less in the air. I knew once the pitching coach went out there and the first two pitches (to Kendrys Morales) were out of the zone, they were pitching around him, and I told myself: Just try to get a good pitch and not make another out. I wasn't as confident, I can tell you that."

In addition to the slam, Goins also adroitly pulled off the rare hidden ball trick.

Jose Bautista made a nice running catch into right-centre field and Todd Frazier scurried back to second base as Goins accepted the throw. Goins then made the full motion of throwing the ball back to Estrada, tucked the ball into his glove and stood patiently as Frazier rocked forward off the base.

"Something told me just to do it," Goins explained. "Honestly, it was more to mess around. When it ends up working out, all you can do is smile. (The umpire) gave me a little look like that was pretty slick. It was fun, that's all I can say."

Teoscar Hernandez and Russ Martin also homered, while Bautista played the hell out of right field and drew a pair of walks.

Meanwhile, in his first start since signing a $13-million extension for the 2018 season, Estrada (10-8) threw seven strong innings vs. the Yankees, allowing a first-inning homer to Aaron Judge and then shutting them down through seven innings.

Blue Jay Ryan Goins, left, celebrates his second grand slam of the season with Kevin Pillar and Teoscar Hernandez in the sixth inning on Friday night at the Rogers Centre.

"It was one of the hardest hit balls I've ever given up," Estrada said, shaking his head. "It actually was a good pitch. I was trying to go up and in on him and he turned on it, so tip your hat to that. It's easier to let it go because I thought it was a good pitch. I just forgot about it and went on."

Estrada has won 10-plus games for the second time in his career and trails Marcus Stroman by two for the club lead. He is finishing strong.

"I want to pitch well for these guys," Estrada said. "It's the reason why I signed back, because I want to do well for them. I want to try and finish on a good note and show everybody June, July was kind of a fluke."

There had been question marks surrounding the organization's direction until about three days ago, when they agreed to terms with Estrada and insinuated that Josh Donaldson was not going to be shopped. Instead of rebuilding, that indicated the Jays are interested in winning even as they await the development of top prospects Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette.

"The Estrada signing was huge for us," manager John Gibbons said. "It takes away the need to fill another hole, the fact that we know him. He's been very productive here. I don't know who's available free-agent wise, and trades are tough to make to bring in that kind of guy. I think that would have been a big hole for us."

The season was filled with promise for the Jays, but winds down with hope vanished. Moving forward, however, Gibbons has faith that the Jays can return to contending status next year.

"We didn't play as well this year as we thought we were going to," Gibbons understated. "Every year's different. The longer you do it . . . when you first start out doing these jobs, the game moves faster than you expect it to at this level."

Gibbons has watched the turnaround of the Twins with interest. They were in town recently and have gone from 103 losses in 2016 under Paul Molitor to sitting as a second wild card this year. The hall of fame player has led an emerging young group to the verge of the playoffs without a major rebuild.

"It was three years ago they were right in it till the end, and they missed out on the wild card," Gibbons pointed out. "It just teaches you that every year's different. If you're playing good, or you acquire one guy or two guys, that can set you off in the right direction. I admire what (Molitor) has done over there."

Gibbons is not naive enough to believe this group of injured and underachieving Blue Jays, along with September call-ups who have each made an impression, is enough to compete for the playoffs in 2018. Changes?

"There's got to be a couple of changes," Gibbons said. "Especially when you come off a tough year, you have to inject something new in it. If you're coming off a pretty good year, you don't want to mess with things. But when you have a tough year, maybe a little new life to this or that, a couple of new faces, that's important."

Read more:

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Source: https://www.thestar.com/sports/bluejays/2017/09/22/gibbons-signals-for-change-up-after-jays-lost-season-griffin.html

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