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Blue Jays’ Unsung Heroes Close Out Yankees in ALDS
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- Blue Jays’ Unsung Heroes Close Out Yankees in ALDS
Brad Penner-Imagn Images Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Start spreadin' the news, the Toronto Blue Jays have conquered New York and are going to their first American League Championship Series in nine years. And they did it the way they've been doing it all season long: riding their 'unsung heroes', a.k.a the 'glue guys', a.k.a. the 'Average Joes'.
The Blue Jays used a newfound offensive approach that preached grind-it-out at-bats, with good swings, good contact, and an aggressiveness at the plate. Accordingly, they turned their underrated average depth guys into a well-above-average group. This was the story all season. It's only fitting that it's the way they brought it home in a four-game triumph over the big, bad New York Yankees in the ALDS.
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The Game 4 clincher was a 5-2 win that did begin, however, with the face of the franchise , the man they absolutely needed to set the tone in this series, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. , driving home a run in the first inning, giving them the first lead of the game. The unsung heroes did the rest.
'Glue Guys' Ernie Clement and Nathan Lukes led the Jays to Game 4 ALDS clincher
Ernie Clement, one of the most important members of the supporting cast all season long, batted an incredible .643 in the series with a 1.554 OPS, five runs and five RBIs. He scored two huge runs in Game 4 after two more clutch hits.
Likewise, the equally unheralded Nathan Lukes also drove in a stunning five runs in the series. His two-run single in the 7th was the proverbial nail in the coffin for the Yankees, giving the Jays a 4-1 lead.
Addison Barger rapped out three hits on the night to finish the series with a .333 batting mark.
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And to top it all off, they got the series clincher from a 'bullpen game'. Of all things. Indeed, no less than eight members of the much-maligned relief corps trotted out over the course of nine innings to shut down the Yankees, surrendering just six hits and two runs.
Now this team—and we use 'team' in the truest sense of the word—waits for the result of the Seattle Mariners/Detroit Tigers Game 5 on Friday night. The ALCS will begin in a rollicking, sold-out Rogers Centre in Toronto on Sunday.
And there's nothing 'unsung' about those rabid 40,000 fans.
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