The Toronto Blue Jays reached new heights in Denver amid a historic three-game sweep of the struggling Colorado Rockies this week.
Toronto (68–48) capped the lopsided series with a 20–1 thrashing of the Rockies (30–84) on Wednesday at Coors Field, and the Blue Jays set a franchise record and a modern MLB record along the way. The Blue Jays scored a franchise-best 45 runs for a three-game series, and the team’s 63 hits marked the most for a three-game series since 1900.
Toronto passed the 1950 Boston Red Sox’s prior record of 62 hits for a three-game series. Already mired in a historically poor season, the Rockies ended up on the wrong side of history again.
The Blue Jays set the high-flying tone in the first game with a 15–1 blowout on Monday, and Toronto kept it going in the second and closest game of the series with a 10–4 win on Tuesday.
Amid the Blue Jays’ whopping average of 21 hits per game, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led the team with 8–17, hitting two home runs and four RBIs. He kept his AL-best 23-game on-base streak going strong in the process.
Davis Schneider hit two home runs and drove in four during the third game for the Blue Jays. Bo Bichette, who also had four RBIs for the finale, had three home runs in the midweek series.
Nathan Lukes drove in six runs during the series for the Blue Jays, and that included his two-run triple on Wednesday. Ernie Clement had a big game in the finale with 4–5, hitting for a home run and four runs scored.
Overall, Toronto tallied 13 home runs in the series, and two players eclipsed 10 RBIs for the series—Bichette and Daulton Varsho. That last happened in 2000 when Alex Rodriguez and Edgar Martinez did it for the Seattle Mariners.
Colorado had one last chance during the ninth inning of the third game to keep it reaching historic proportions. Instead, the Blue Jays piled on eight runs in that inning.
For Gausman on Wednesday, he enjoyed the historically good run support in a return to his native Colorado. Gausman fanned eight batters and allowed just three hits and a run in seven innings.
“I had a really good fastball today, and I was throwing strikes,” Gausman told reporters via Sportsnet. “Pitching here in front of friends and family, coaches, people who’ve seen me from when I first started, is pretty cool.”
Colorado’s lone run came off of Ezequiel Tovar’s double, and Gausman didn’t let the Rockies score again amid his adjustments. Gausman had a 1.96 ERA amid six-straight starts before a game against the Kansas City Royals on Aug. 1.
“I learned the first inning that I can’t throw that split there to Tovar. I’ve just got to try to bounce every split,” Gausman said via Sportsnet.
With the sweep, Toronto bounced back from a 2–5 stretch during the previous series against the Royals and Baltimore Orioles. The Blue Jays get a big test next for a three-game set with the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers starting on Friday.
“It builds some momentum and some confidence, especially after a tough two series,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters on Wednesday via Sportsnet. “It’s nice to really see them play the way they did and especially today, after you’ve won the first two. I thought they handled the day and the series really, really well. It was fun to watch.”
