Opinion | In blue or red, the Jays are blazing a path to the playoffs. Everything is clicking

The sight of the Blue Jays taking the field in their alternate red jerseys tends to send a chill up the spine of Toronto fans.

It’s completely understandable. After all, until recently the reds had been reserved for Canada Day, and the Jays have been tripped up far more often than not lately on our nation’s birthday, dropping seven of 11 July 1 affairs heading into this year.

But José Berríos took down the Tampa Bay Rays 9-2 this past Canada Day, beating back the curse. Berríos isn’t superstitious, so he leaves the decision to his teammates, and they’ve picked the reds for him in his last three home starts (those jerseys aren’t available on the road). The Jays have won them all.

“That’s the position players (who) pick them,” Berríos said after picking up his 11th win of the season Saturday. “I don’t care. I ask them what they want to use. If they feel comfortable with the red, I (pick) it and go out there with that one.”

In his last start, a 3-2 win over Tampa Bay at the dome on Monday night, he let George Springer make the call on the jersey colour. Saturday, he left it up to Bo Bichette.

“He was going to pick the babies,” said Bichette, referring to the baby blue uniforms the Jays have worn just once in September, in Friday night’s series-opening win over Baltimore, “and I told him no, let’s go red.”

Of course Saturday’s 6-3 win, knocking the slumping Orioles seven games behind the Jays in the playoff chase, had less to do with the home team’s sartorial splendour and more to do with the old-fashioned things that win baseball games: pitching, defence and timely hitting.

The Jays have had all three facets of the game working well over the course of a sizzling September, a major reason for their 13-4 record since the calendar flipped. No team in the majors has been better.

It started with the glovework.

“Right out of the chute,” said interim manager John Schneider, under whom the Jays improved to 37-21, second to the Houston Astros in the American League over that span.

The first batter of the game, Cedric Mullins, took a 2-and-2 fastball at the top of the strike zone and clobbered it to deep left field. Raimel Tapia got on his horse, raced back to the warning track, leaped and picked the ball off the wall for an out that immediately got 44,448 fans off their feet.

“It was a good one,” said Berríos. “We saw that play — also the one Springer (made) in centre field — so, so special because that tells you how much we want this.”

Springer took his cue from the day’s bobblehead promotion in the fourth inning. It was Superhero Day at the Rogers Centre, so the centre-fielder did a full-on Superman dive as he sprinted in and turned a Ramon Urias duck-snort into an out. It was Marvel Superhero Day, not DC, but there’s no such a thing as a Spider-Man dive.

Between those outstanding plays, Bichette — who has carried the team offensively for three weeks — saved a couple of runs by hauling in a Rougned Odor pop-up with runners at second and third and one out. The ball was hit almost directly over second base and Bichette had to all but climb over the runner, Terrin Vavra, to make the catch.

“I didn’t think it was that difficult,” said Bichette, unsurprisingly deflecting praise. “I knew where I was heading and I knew that it was a possibility that I’d either run into him or run into the base, so I was just ready for it. And when (the ball) got there, I wasn’t going to let (Vavra) deter me.”

On offence, the Jays got two huge hits in big spots, something that had been lacking as the non-Bichettes in the lineup sputtered a bit.

Springer, who had been 3-for-28 before his home run in the second game of Tuesday’s doubleheader, drilled a two-run double off the left-field wall in the second inning to extend the lead to 3-0, allowing the Jays to withstand a two-run single by Orioles super-rookie Gunnar Henderson in the third. Springer is batting .313 since that home run.

“When George is doing his thing,” said Schneider, “having him at the top, coming back around every single time (the lineup turns over) is just pressure on the opposing pitchers. He’s had a tendency to step up this time of year and beyond his entire career. He’s just doing more of the same.”

Tapia threw his bat in the ring as well, delivering a three-run double with two out in the bottom of the fifth to break the game open. The 28-year-old fourth outfielder has had a disappointing season overall, batting just .226 since the all-star break, but he’s been a wonder with the bases loaded. The two-bagger raised his average to .538 this season with the sacks juiced, driving in 18 runs in 14 plate appearances in such situations. Amazingly for his career, Tapia has hit .424 with the bases loaded.

“I love those moments,” Tapia said as he dripped dry from Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s post-game Gatorade shower. “I feed off the energy of the moment, the fans — when we’re here — that I’ve got rooting for me. And when we’re playing away, they’re booing but I feel that energy, too. I just raise (my game) at those moments.”

His teammates have certainly been raising theirs as well, playing their best baseball of the season with the stakes at their highest.

Mike Wilner is a Toronto-based baseball columnist for the Star and host of the baseball podcast “Deep Left Field.” Follow him on Twitter: @wilnerness

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