To that end, both teams needed quantity and quality from their starters Monday, and Jose Berrios did his part by going into the seventh inning, leaving only eight outs to cover his bullpen. The Rays, on the other hand, went Cooper Criswell for 3.1 innings and four relievers behind him, having burned 10 different pitchers — including Jays rival Ryan Yarbrough — the previous two days at the New York Yankees. All this strategy played out against the backdrop of the final magical moment in Bo Bichette’s increasingly remarkable surge in September, a dramatic two-run homer in the eighth inning by Jason Adam that propelled the Blue Jays to a thrilling 3-2 victory. Coming into the at-bat when a Javy Guerra 97.1 mph sinker grazed his wrist, missed his face and caused “my life (to) flash before my eyes,” Bichette closed out an admirable seven pitches sending a The slider headed into the low and far corner over the wall in left-center. “Two strikes I’m just competing with,” Bichette said of his approach after hitting a 2-2 slider in the dirt before going deep. “Just trust my ability to get to the fastball, I have to hustle for it and give myself a chance on the slider. I had a chance.” That Bichette could shake off the close call by Guerra in the sixth — he slammed his bat into the ground and then hit it after being hit because the pitch “scared me” — and then threw out a sketch called a second strike underscored how locked in currently. Already the reigning American League Player of the Week, Bichette also drove in his team’s other run with a fourth-inning RBI single and is hitting .511/.549/1.128 with seven homers and 21 RBI over his last 11 games. Just a really special level of performance. “I’ve seen him do so many great things,” teammate Cavan Biggio said. “I’ve seen him be hot, I’ve seen him be cold and what I’m seeing from him now is mentally, he just keeps things very simple. He’s not trying to be the perfect player. He’s not trying to be someone he’s not. He’s just the best version of himself.” An enthusiastic Rogers Center crowd of 23,002 stood and cheered until Bichette took a reluctant shutout as the Blue Jays (79-61) tied the dormant Seattle Mariners (79-61) for the first wild card, a half-game on the Rays ( 78- 61) with their 11th win in the last 14 games. Their surge coincided with that of Bichette, who continues to lead his team to victories. “He’s already a tough hitter when he’s not doing what he’s doing right now,” said catcher Danny Jansen, whose mental error in the sixth inning — sending a throw to second on ball four, allowing Randy Arozarena to take third and finally to score. on Manuel Margot’s homer’s choice — gave it a 2-1 Rays lead. “It (makes a pitcher) feel like he has to make the perfect pitch sometimes and there’s something to be said for that. The pitcher knows how hot he is and that can be a psychological thing on the mound. I’ll see.” Indeed, and Bichette made sure Adam didn’t come loose in the eighth after Raimel Tapia opened the frame with a leadoff single and stole second before George Springer hit a comebacker on the mound and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. strike out “He has this unique ability to really cover the entire strike zone and then some,” interim manager John Snyder said. “He’s definitely the guy you want to get up to right now at any point.” Jordan Romano, aided by a brilliant run by Jackie Bradley Jr. on Margot’s drive to deep center, closed out a well-played, tense and testing affair for his 33rd save. Sick would follow Bichette’s close call and Berrios would hit Francisco Mejia on the hip with an 0-1 count to open the next frame. Warnings for both clubs followed, as did an extended banter between Blue Jays manager Pete Walker and his Rays counterpart, Kyle Snyder, with Schneider also speaking. Given the bigger-picture ambitions for both clubs, tempers prevailed, even as Arozarena shook his lower arm to a Yimi Garcia in the eighth. Berrios insisted there was no intent behind the pitch for Mejia and was caught off guard by the warnings to both clubs. “I don’t want the driver on base in this inning,” he said. “I want to play my game, try to attack the player and I hit him. That’s part of the game.” Either way, his efforts set the Blue Jays up nicely for the next three days. Alek Manoah starts Tuesday’s opener against Jeffrey Springs, with Mitch White set to anchor the Toronto Relievers against the Tampa bullpen. Ross Stripling gets the ball against Drew Rasmussen on Wednesday, while Kevin Gausman goes Thursday, likely against Shane McClanahan, who is expected to come off the injured list to start. Monday didn’t help an already beat Rays bullpen, and the Blue Jays will go into Tuesday with everyone available, according to Schneider. “You’ve got good starting pitching, you’ve got a quality start, it lines up guys out of the bullpen, it keeps guys available,” Schneider said. “What (Berrios) did tonight was fantastic. He’s a really, really good pitcher. I know he’s had his ups and downs. But tonight was a really good step in the right direction for him in a lot of different ways. I’m looking for more of the same from Jose in the future and when tomorrow you have coverage 18, it’s awesome that he did what he did as well.”
