In 2019, the Yankees rode their “Next Man Up” mantra to 103 wins and an ALCS appearance. Looking across the diamond at Sahlen Field on Tuesday night, the Blue Jays must have looked awfully familiar.\n\nWith injuries to key players on every corner of their roster, the Blue Jays just keep finding ways to win with a different star seemingly every night. In Tuesday’s scrappy, 2-1 win, which pushed Toronto's lead over the Yanks for second place in the AL East to three games, that was outfielder
Davis has plenty of fans within the organization, because of who he is as a person as much as who he is as a player, and manager Charlie Montoyo might be the president of that club. Davis said it felt like it was his birthday when he got back to the dugout, and that joy was still evident on his face hours later.\n\nThis has been a year of both blessings and challenges for Davis. He was away from the club early in Spring Training as he and his wife, Hannah, had their first child, Kapri. Then, as clubs were gearing up to resume training in the summer, Davis tested positive for COVID-19. While he exhibited no symptoms beyond light congestion, that still put him further behind the rest of the outfield group as the season began.
“The decisions that the front office made to go with the guys they did, I respect it 1,000%,” Davis said. “I love those guys. They’ve been doing a great job. Honestly, I just wanted to be with the team. Real talk. It feels good to be able to come out tonight and contribute. Those guys are my brothers.”\n\nNo one in the Blue Jays’ dugout appreciated Davis' home run stroke more than starter
Three consecutive walks stretched out that inning before Walker escaped the jam, and it didn’t get any easier in the second. Catcher Danny Jansen dropped a popup in foul territory, which forced Walker to throw a few more pitches, then Lourdes Gurriel Jr. misplayed a ball near the wall in left-center field that he seemed to have trouble tracking through the air. Through just two innings, Walker had given out four free passes, but stranded five.
“I wanted to try to get seven innings just to help the bullpen,” Walker said. “They’ve been rock solid for us. Even today, they picked me up big time going five innings. It was a tough one, but it’s encouraging to put up zeros. Especially with the Yankees, they have a good lineup and they can do a lot of damage.”
The Blue Jays might need another “next man up” soon, though, depending on the status of