The trip to California seems to have done the Toronto Blue Jays the greatest good, authors of a four-game sweep at the Los Angeles Angels, who are swimming much more in confidence at the dawn of a return home.
• Read also: A festive atmosphere at the inaugural game of the Alliance de Montréal
• Read also: The Blue Jays sweep the Angels
With five straight wins, manager Charlie Montoyo's squad will host the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday after scoring 35 points during their current winning streak.
In fact, the offense is working at full speed, having totaled five runs in the seventh and eighth innings of Sunday's game to allow the Jays to come from behind and win 11-10.
Individually, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. did his part with five RBIs. Having not struck in the last game, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is slowly finding his bearings, he who had obtained a homer in two outings in a row, Wednesday and Thursday. Also, Montoyo says he is encouraged by what he sees.
“It's about staying in control. Our staff of instructors and our players do. They believe in themselves and have proven it here and on this journey. We play good teams and we play good baseball. Even with an 11-10 score, we were in a one-point game...it was close, whatever you call it," he told the Toronto Star.
In the series... for now
The Jays' successes have allowed them to rise to second-team position among clubs not leading their section in the American League. Even if nothing is won, this is a nice improvement. Earlier in May, Toronto had gone through a drought punctuated by seven losses in nine games.
"Baseball is tough and every club has a chance to win," said pitcher Jose Berrios, whose earned run average is 5.62. Right now, we're making some adjustments and we're starting to play better. We see the results now. We are winning more games and we want to continue to be successful.”
To do that, they will first have to hope that Gunner Kevin Gausman, who is scheduled to leave on Tuesday, continues his good work. Averaging 2.25, he blanked the St. Louis Cardinals for six innings in his last appearance on the mound on Wednesday. Since the start of the campaign, he has never pitched less than five innings in a start and hasn't given up more than three earned runs.
