Two vital elements to fix before hockey can thrive again in Atlanta
Writer Scott Burnside joins the Jeff Marek Show to discuss the latest rumblings about NHL expansion to Atlanta, why he believes hockey can once again thrive there, and what two vital factors need to be corrected before moving onto the next step.
TORONTO – The primary highlights for the Toronto Blue Jays as they won consecutive games for the first time this young season came from Chris Bassitt, who shoved for 6.2 innings, and Bo Bichette, whose first homer of the year provided the key blow.
Yet in many ways, the third-inning sequence by Daulton Varsho and George Springer that produced the first run of Tuesday’s 5-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners is perhaps most emblematic of the team-centric style of play the Blue Jays aim to make their identity.
It’s not just that Varsho singled with one out in the third, advanced to second on a disengagement violation and scored on a Springer RBI single. What matters is how one fed into the other, softening up George Kirby both in the moment and later in the inning, when Bichette’s two-run drive opened things up.
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In that way, every ounce of pressure the Blue Jays applied compounded on the Mariners, increasing the chances of success down the line.
Varsho drove Kirby to distraction at first by threatening to steal, drawing three throws that instead handed him the 90 feet at the same time Springer was fouling off eight consecutive pitches from the electric-armed right-hander, seven of them between 95.1 and 96.9 m.p.h., grinding him down.
Two pitches after Varsho reached second, Springer lashed a slider to centre that opened the scoring. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. followed with a roller to third that Josh Rojas relayed to Jorge Polanco at second for the second out, but Springer slid hard into the bag, his shoulder driving into Polanco to prevent him from attempting a double play.
That kept the inning alive for Bichette, who fouled off three straight pitches, took a ball and then hammered a slider 431 feet to left.
Worked over in the third, the Blue Jays stayed on Kirby again in the fourth, Cavan Biggio leading off with a single, stealing second and scoring on Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s double, with him later coming around on another RBI single from Springer.
With Bassitt rolling at that point, the Blue Jays returned to .500 at 6-6 before a crowd of 31,310.
Bassitt did have to work around some traffic, allowing five hits and four walks, but struck out and induced a pair of double plays. He was never really threatened, the only run against him coming on Dominic Canzone’s solo shot with two out in the seventh.
Manager John Schneider gave Bassitt some run to try and get through the seventh, even though he was already at 109 pitches, but Josh Rojas followed with a single and that was his night. Trevor Richards came on to get J.P. Crawford to end the frame and though he gave up a two-run shot to Mitch Haniger in the eighth, Chad Green recorded four outs to lock down the win.
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