The Toronto Blue Jays laid into the Los Angeles Angels Saturday afternoon for an 11-2 victory.
The offensive bombardment both took game three of a four game series between the teams and allowed the Jays to finish off a tough June with a much-needed W.
In a month characterized by the decimation of the squad’s pitching rotation, the Jays managed to muster a respectable 13-14 record over 27 games.
Though a sub-.500 record in any month is somewhat unforgivable in a viciously competitive American League East, all things considered, the Jays salvaged what they could.
With starters Brandon Morrow, Drew Hutchison and Kyle Drabek on the disabled list for much of June, the Jays were forced to rely on minor leaguers and bullpen fixtures like Jesse Chavez, Aaron Laffey and Carlos Villanueva to step into starting roles.
While the absence of three starters did not go unnoticed, the club was able to band together on the strength of some seriously explosive offense and keep it together behind the patchwork rotation.
Jose Bautista set a personal mark for home runs in a month, with 14, Colby Rasmus transitioned from floundering washout to offensive force, Brett Lawrie began tapping into his reserves of extra-base power and Edwin Encarnacion continued doing what he has done all season long.
The resilience of the Jays roster showed time and time again in June as they fought and clawed to stay in games they had no business winning.
And Saturday’s victory was a fair exclamation point on the month.
In spite of the hard times on which Toronto has fallen, the Jays are not going to go quietly. While Saturday’s win counts the same as any other, it is a sign that the Jays will not roll over for anyone, and regardless of who takes the mound as the season wears on, the team has a legitimate chance at victory on any given night.
Whether the Blue Jays proves capable of climbing the AL East ladder remains to be seen.
But as the halfway point of the season nears, the scrappy Jays have made it clear that any opponent looking for an easy series win best look elsewhere.
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