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The Toronto Blue Jays have been one of the best teams in baseball all season long, and now they are starting to shift through the gears and get ready for the postseason. One of the most impressive things about this Blue Jays season has been how they have stacked up against fellow top competition, and that continued on Tuesday night with a very impressive 5-1 win over the Chicago Cubs.
The decisive moment in this victory came in the fourth inning, when third baseman Ernie Clement did massive damage from the bottom of the order. With Toronto already holding a 1-0 lead, Clement crushed a three-run home run off of Javier Assad to stretch the lead to four and the Cubs were never able to threaten from there.
As it turns out, Clement's home run almost never even happened. Manager John Schneider said after the game that Clement was given a bunt sign and missed it before sending the first pitch of the at-bat out of the park, via Keegan Matheson of MLB.com.
“You’re living right when you’re doing that,” Schneider said. “I’m glad he missed the sign.”
Clement knows that he would've been in big trouble if he hadn't gotten a hold of the pitch, but he was in good spirits about it afterward, via Mitch Bannon of The Athletic.
“If you're going to do that and miss a sign, you'd be better hit a homer or they're going to be pretty pissed at you,” Clement said. “So yeah, I'm glad I put a good one on it.”
Clement has come up with a number of clutch moments this season for the Blue Jays, so this didn't come as a surprise. However, he is clearly swinging the bat with a lot of confidence and is a big asset at the bottom of the order for John Schneider and company.
With this win, the Blue Jays became the second team in Major League Baseball this season to get to 70 wins after the Milwaukee Brewers hit that number at the start of August. They currently have the best record in the American League and will be keen to stay in that position in order to gain home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
