TORONTO -- This is what home-field advantage is supposed to look like, feel like and sound like. When
Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo, brimming with pride and sweating from the team’s postgame party, couldn’t contain his grin.\n\n“It felt like a playoff game,” Montoyo said. “We kind of needed to win this game. And I don’t want to say needed, because every game counts … \\[but\\] if we take today, that’s three out of four against a good team. And to come back like this, it doesn’t get any better than this.”\n\nYes, Sunday’s win marked three wins in four games against the Red Sox, who own the top American League Wild Card spot. The book is now closed on the Blue Jays-Red Sox season series, with Toronto going 9-10 despite a plus-30 run differential. The Blue Jays won five of the final seven matchups, however, suggesting that the power balance between the teams is shifting.
A huge reason for that is a healthy, red-hot Springer. He’s been among the league’s most dialed-in hitters the past few weeks, and now his home fans have seen it for themselves. Entering Sunday, the center fielder had a .353/.411/.776 slash line in 22 games since the All-Star break. He added to that with a walk, a single and the game-altering home run.\n\nBlue Jays fans, who learned patience while their baseball team spent a season-and-a-half south of the border, had to wait a few months to see Springer in his top form. Those injury-plagued weeks weighed on him, too, but he’s just happy to be past it.\n\n“It’s been hectic, it’s been crazy,” Springer. “Didn’t really start the way I’d like it to start. Obviously getting hurt. But at this point, it’s about staying in the moment.”
On Sunday, the moment belonged to Springer. But it took an unsung effort by catcher
After an off-day Monday -- Toronto’s first in two weeks -- the Blue Jays head to the West Coast, where their momentum born from the comfort of home will be tested. They are finished with the Red Sox, but key series with the Rays and Yankees loom. Only 2 1/2 games separate Boston (65-49) and Toronto (60-50), with New York (61-50) squished in between. Buckle up for this finish in the loaded American League East.\n\n“I’m expecting it to go down to the wire,”