Belt comes up clutch for Blue Jays: ‘We belief him in enormous spots’

BOSTON — One day after sitting towards a left-handed starter, Brandon Belt discovered himself in a precarious place within the sixth inning of Saturday’s sport at Fenway Park. He made essentially the most of it because the Blue Jays eked out a 5-4 win over the Red Sox.

With the rating tied at 3 and the bases loaded with one out, Boston opted for a left-handed reliever to face the Blue Jays’ designated hitter.

Against Brennan Bernardino in an 0-2 depend, Belt delivered a single into left subject that plated Davis Schneider and made it a 4-3 sport.

“With the way he’s swinging the bat and what he’s been through in his approach that he takes every single time, you’re going to trust him in those spots,” supervisor John Schneider mentioned.

Asked if he thought-about a pinch-hitter — on condition that Belt had entered the sport with solely 26 plate appearances and a .182 common vs. lefties this season — the Toronto skipper didn’t hesitate: “It’s the sixth inning and it’s Brandon Belt. It’s the dude that’s won two World Series and has an awesome approach. We trust him in huge spots. Looking back to April, maybe you think twice about it [then].”

Belt, who was hitting simply .169 after the primary month of the season, additionally contributed a house run within the third inning to present his workforce an early 1-0 lead.

“My approach really doesn’t change that much throughout the at-bat,” mentioned Belt, who went 2-for-4 on the day with two RBIs and a stroll. “If I can get myself to a point where I’m really seeing the ball and not thinking about much and letting my body react, I put myself in good position to get some hits.”

The lengthy ball was Belt’s tenth of the season and his fourth in his previous 11 video games, after going with out one in 20 of 21 video games prior.

It was additionally the third time he had a two-hit sport over his previous 4 appearances.

Saturday’s win was a matter of Belt and Co. profiting from the scenario, mixing in some very sturdy protection with glorious pitching and well timed hitting. 

Toronto possessed a 5-3 lead heading into the underside of the ninth, and after Tim Mayza pressured Rafael Devers to hit a weak grounder for the primary out, the Blue Jays introduced in Erik Swanson to shut the door.

Unfortunately for Toronto, Boston pounded out three straight singles, scoring one run and placing the potential tying and go-ahead runners on base. Connor Wong then despatched a lofting fly to left-center subject, solely to observe Kevin Kiermaier give you the catch on the Green Monster earlier than throwing it to second base to double off Reese McGuire, ending the tense showdown.

“As soon as I saw [Kiermaier] settle under it, you feel better,” John Schneider mentioned. “But it was definitely a hold-your-breath moment. … It wasn’t easy. A little stressful, but at the end of the day, you have the right guys against the right guys in the lineup.” 

“We did what we had to do to get the job done, and that’s all that really matters in the end,” Belt mentioned. “We had a couple of breaks go our way. We put ourselves in good position by getting on base and putting people in scoring position.”

With the win, the Blue Jays clinch this three-game sequence towards the Red Sox, after coming into the day 1-7 towards them this 12 months. Toronto additionally places one other sport between them within the AL Wild Card race, the place the Blue Jays now maintain a four-game edge over Boston.