TORONTO — The Blue Jays are 33-13 since Aug. 1 for the best winning percentage (.717) in the majors in that span.
Key acquisitions at the July 31 deadline for trades without waivers have been vital to this surge that has taken the Blue Jays to first place in the American League East.
They lead by 3 1/2 games after defeating the second-place New York Yankees 4-2 on Monday.
It is no coincidence that left-hander David Price, who was obtained in a July 30 trade with the Detroit Tigers, made his first start for the Blue Jays on Aug. 3
Including that win over the Minnesota Twins, he is 8-1 with a 1.95 ERA in 10 starts with Toronto. That includes the win on Monday, when he held the Yankees to two hits and no runs over seven innings.
“He’s 8-1 since we acquired him; that’s eight big wins,” manager John Gibbons said after the win over the Yankees. “Four times he’s faced these guys (and won three) and that’s hard to do. Trades don’t always work out right; this one has worked out right.”
“That’s a very good team, one of the most storied franchises, they’re tough to pitch against,” Price said. “So it’s always fun to beat them.”
Price is 5-0 after the Blue Jays have lost a game.
Going into Monday, they had lost two wrenching games to the Boston Red Sox, 7-6 and 4-3, and they were facing the Yankees, who were buoyed by two wins over the New York Mets on the weekend.
But there is a reason they call pitchers like Price stoppers. They stop potential losing streaks.
“That’s what those guys do,” Gibbons said. “We lost two tough ball games that we had a chance to win, so this was a big game and he came out and shut them down, which isn’t easy to do and won the ball game.”
The Blue Jays are assured of still being first in the AL East no matter what happens in the final two games of the regular season against the Yankees Tuesday and Wednesday.