Bo Bichette flashed a smile once he glanced at Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who had just doubled home a run on a hit that allowed Bichette to go from first to third.
A smiling Bichette has rarely, if ever, been seen this season, a year punctuated by under-performance and marred by injury.
Bichette’s latest bout with a calf strain landed him on the injured list for almost two months.
In fact, his previous game in the big leagues was way back on July 19.
He was back Tuesday as the Blue Jays began the final portion of their road schedule before returning home to close out the season.
Ever mindful of Bichette’s workload to close out the year, the Jays plan to use Bichette at DH mixed in with some rest days. In his return against the host Texas Rangers, Bichette started at shortstop.
As he was ramping up for his return, Bichette tried to set the record straight amid so many rumours by expressing his commitment to Toronto, even going so far as to say he wants to win a championship with Vlad Jr. The two are free agents following the 2025 season.
Whether Bichette was merely trying to get ahead of the story or had some other agenda at play when he made those comments during Toronto’s stay in Atlanta, at the end of the day, money talks and the clock on both Bichette and Guerrero is ticking.
The clock on the 2024 season definitely is ticking with the Jays reduced to their final 11 games following Tuesday’s 13-8 loss at Globe Life Field, a hitter-friendly and decidedly offensive-centric affair when no lead was safe until Toronto needed to go deep into its brutal bullpen.
It also was a sloppy and very uneven game that took forever to play, it seemed.
Consider the seven combined pitchers required by the Blue Jays to record 24 outs threw a total of 206 pitches.
The Rangers are defending World Series champions in name only. When they visited Toronto in late July, the Rangers were swept by the Blue Jays.
Tuesday night’s series-opening win does, in theory, allow Texas to exact some revenge, but either way both the Rangers and Blue Jays are playing out the string to disappointing seasons.
Bichette can at least salvage something in the next few weeks. In five at-bats, he failed to hit the ball out of the infield, still going 2-for-5 with one RBI and one strikeout.
Bichette handled the few plays he needed to make in the field routinely and cleanly.
In his 30th start of the season, Chris Bassitt had his second-shortest outing, yielding seven runs on six hits while walking three, hitting a batter and even committing his first throwing error in a remarkably eventful 3.2 innings.
With Bichette back in the lineup, the Jays immediately inserted the free-swinging Bichette into the No. 2 hole, a role he embraced prior to his injury.
In his first at-bat, Bichette had George Springer on first base after Toronto’s leadoff hitter stroked a line-drive single into centre field. Bichette swung through a slider down and away in an at-bat that was not competitive, but perhaps expected given his extended period of inactivity.
Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi had an otherwise unforgettable first inning. After two runs had been scored, Eovaldi faced Nathan Lukes with runners at the corner. The count went full as Eovaldi’s pitch count reached 21.
On the 22nd pitch, Eovaldi walked Lukes to load the bases, a familiar sight on this night when teams exchanged several loaded-base situations.
Up stepped Davis Schneider, who took a called strike and then fouled off a pitch to fall behind the count 0-2. Schneider took two straight balls and was nearly hit by a pitch on a wayward curveball. Eovaldi did avoid a big inning when he struck Schneider out swinging.
Still, the righty needed 28 pitches to get out of the inning when four hits were yielded, but it did set the tone for what would await.
Bassitt needed 23 pitches to get out of the first inning, but much like his counterpart, trouble loomed.
In Toronto’s second at-bats, Springer hit a one-out triple into the gap in right-centre.
Bichette hit a ball down the third-base line that Josh Yung tried to back hand. Springer couldn’t score, but Bichette did reach base.
Bassitt gave up one hit, while walking one the first time through the order — it quickly would turn for the worse.
A successful video review and a Clement throwing error were among the handful of key plays in the fourth inning as Texas scored five runs to take a 7-3 lead.
Not to be outdone, the Jays struck back during a four-run fifth inning to tie the game, highlighted by Schneider’s third home run in as many games.
The game’s outcome would be determined by the respective bullpens, which clearly did not benefit Toronto given its glaring deficiencies.
Tommy Nance became Toronto’s third reliever to be used when he began the sixth inning. He promptly loaded the bases with none out and with no one warming up in the pen.
A potentially big inning would be averted, however, when Schneider made a nice running catch just short of the wall in left-centre to end the inning as the Rangers retook the lead.
His defensive gem saved at least two runs as Schneider would emerge as the Jays’ best player on this night.
The second best was Vlad Jr., who had a three-hit game.