{"id":10477,"date":"2025-07-20T12:31:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T12:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/10477\/"},"modified":"2025-07-20T12:31:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T12:31:08","slug":"unsung-heroes-batting-depth-step-up-for-blue-jays-in-6-3-win-over-giants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/10477\/","title":{"rendered":"Unsung heroes, batting depth step up for Blue Jays in 6-3 win over Giants"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Toronto Blue Jays third base Ernie Clement (22) is safe a home plate during the sixth inning.Nathan Denette\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

The Toronto Blue Jays may have star power, but they\u2019ve had contributions from unsung heroes this season. <\/p>\n

That happened Saturday afternoon when Toronto\u2019s 7-8-9 hitters accounted for all six runs and went a collective 5-for-10 in the team\u2019s 6-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants at Rogers Centre. <\/p>\n

Second baseman Ernie Clement finished with an RBI. Third baseman Will Wagner hit a two-run double. And catcher Tyler Heineman had one of the best games of his career, hitting a two-run homer in the sixth inning to finish 2-for-3 with three RBI. <\/p>\n

Blue Jays manager John Schneider credits his club\u2019s hitting coaches for this lower-lineup success. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt starts with Pop, and Lou and Hunter,\u201d said Schneider of Toronto\u2019s hitting staff. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd really diving into what these guys are good at and how they are going to get pitched and having a plan. And then it\u2019s the guys buying into that plan and sticking with it. It\u2019s not easy to do when you don\u2019t play every day and you\u2019re hitting 7-8-9.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Addison Barger (47) hits a double against San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Logan Webb (62) during the sixth inning.John E. Sokolowski\/Reuters<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tendency is to chase results and the guys aren\u2019t doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Blue Jays got contributions from more than their batting depth Saturday.<\/p>\n

Starter Eric Lauer picked up his fifth win of the season while allowing two runs and no walks in six innings of work. Lauer also struck out seven batters. <\/p>\n

Signed to a minor-league deal Dec. 13, 2024, after he was cut by the KBO\u2019s Kia Tigers, Lauer has been a strong addition to the Blue Jays\u2019 rotation in 2025. <\/p>\n

The left-hander has a 2.80 earned-run average and a 1.04 walks plus hits per inning pitched in eight starts for the Blue Jays this season. <\/p>\n

\u201cOne, probably,\u201d said Clement of where Lauer would rank among Toronto\u2019s unsung heroes. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat he\u2019s been able to do and come in and just give us a chance to win every game. It\u2019s invaluable. So, tip of the cap to him. He\u2019s probably been our unsung MVP so far.\u201d <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Eric Lauer (56) throws during first inning.Nathan Denette\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Schneider says Lauer\u2019s demeanour hasn\u2019t changed as his quality starts increased.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s one of the things I love about him,\u201d Scheider said of Lauer post-game. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s kind of a flat-liner\u2026Not getting too high or too low, and kind of doing what everyone\u2019s doing, where you go out and do what we ask of you and you move on to the next time you go out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Accustomed to a long relief role as well as a starter this season, Lauer believes the latter is where has earned the right to be. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just trying to make sure that I stick in the rotation, honestly\u201d Lauer said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I want to do, and that\u2019s where I think I can help the team best.\u201d <\/p>\n

With Bowden Francis still on the injured list with a shoulder impingement, the Blue Jays need Lauer in the rotation moving forward. <\/p>\n

Toronto will attempt to sweep the three-game homestand against the Giants on Sunday before hosting the New York Yankees in a three-game set starting Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Toronto Blue Jays third base Ernie Clement (22) is safe a home plate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10478,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,82,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-10477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}