With two home runs in as many days from Davis Schneider and a game-winning RBI double from Nathan Lukes, the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 to sweep the series.You could focus on a few players and how they helped the Toronto Blue Jays defeat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 on Sunday.
After a pinch-hit single in the eighth inning, Nathan Lukes’ double down the left-field line drove in the game’s winning run for George Springer.
After an awful long at-bat drought, Davis Schneider struck out for a two-run home run, his second big ball in as many days.
Yariel Rodriguez, the Blue Jays’ starter, put up a strong 4.1 innings of work, and after that, the bullpen pretty much shut things down.
But let’s stray from the norm for a moment.
Leo Jimenez’s play in the sixth inning was mostly insignificant to the result of the game and will not appear in the boxscore. However, when the Blue Jays’ decision-makers evaluate players this off-season, they won’t likely overlook it.
Although Jimenez’s skill as a defender is well known, performances like these simply serve to enhance his stature. The child is polished and becoming more self-assured every day.
In the sixth inning, Luken Baker, the designated hitter for the Cardinals, whacked a chopper that sailed off the mound and towards second base, putting a man on first. Jimenez fielded the ball with his glove arm outstretched, but it was only half the beauty.
After setting his back to the second base bag and placing his left hip on the ground, Jimenez threw a pass to Ernie Clement, who finished the inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.
Lukes stated, “The plays he’s making are just mouth-to-the-ground.”
John Schneider, manager of the Blue Jays, commented, “That was unbelievable.” “A major league double play, that was.” The ones you don’t see very often are those.
In his brief stint in the majors, Jimenez has amassed a remarkable highlight reel. After the game, he studied the play on video and expressed pride in his ability to execute it.
“I made an effort to put myself in a favourable position, particularly considering that [Baker] is a pull hitter,” Jimenez stated. I was more in the direction of the bag, but I was prepared for anything to my left. Then I was hit with a ground ball. It was a hard one that kind of skipped on the mound. Usually, after [hitting the mound], they kind of take off. All I can recall is taking it and making sure we extracted one. As I was aware that Baker is not a quick runner, I thought, “This is going to be a double play.” Then, when it happened, I was astounded.
Jimenez has played a lot of games due to Bo Bichette’s injury, so it will be fascinating to see where he slots on the 2025 Blue Jays. Due to a shortage of infielders on the roster, trades or free agency may be used to make changes in addition to Bichette’s return.
But Jimenez is contributing in his own way. The 23-year-old is a decent bat in addition to playing superb defence at shortstop and second base. He had a 105 OPS-plus through 52 games coming into Sunday, and he added to that total with a single in his three at-bats.
He said he’s not dwelling too much on what the upcoming season has in store for him, preferring to concentrate on how he can visit the ballpark and improve every day. His defence has been essential to that. According to Jimenez, raising it has been a season-long objective.
He said that things had improved throughout the course of the year. “I’ve been working really hard on my defensive this year. My greatest strength at the moment is that, and I’m really proud of how hard I’ve been working all year long because I can see that it’s paying off in the game. It motivates me to put in more effort so I can produce more plays like that and ultimately assist my team in winning.
Jimenez’s shovel pass on the double play demonstrated to Schneider the level of confidence he is currently playing with.
The management declared, “He’s been here long enough at this point.” He seems like he could play his game. You’re a little too shy to do stuff like that when you first come here. And it’s good to watch him just unwind and engage in his pastime.
With the victory, the Blue Jays completed a three-game sweep of the Cardinals. Next up for the team is a trip to Texas, where they will play a three-game series starting on Tuesday against the Rangers, then play a weekend series against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Toronto is now one game behind the Rays in fourth place in the American League East, despite being at the bottom of the standings. If passing Tampa Bay in the standings meant anything, Schneider was questioned about it.
“Yes, I believe so,” he answered. “I detest knowing that we are at the bottom of our division when I look at the standings. The objective remains essentially the same: win as many games as you can, regardless of where you finish. But that seems like a wonderful idea.
Schneider continued, “The guys have been up for it, and it is nice to have some goals internally.” We had a conversation this morning about how, while I don’t want to suggest that it’s simple to sort of go through the motions, there have been teams that we’ve played where we feel like we’ve kind of out-energized them, if that makes sense. The lads have taken great pride in it, and I’m incredibly proud of that.
