Kirk plays hero off the bench, delivers Toronto's MLB-best 45th comeback win

TORONTO -- No one is leaving early these days.

The Blue Jays mounted yet another rally on Saturday afternoon, roaring back for a 5-4 walk-off win over the Orioles at Rogers Centre. Never mind that they trailed from the first to the ninth. There’s no beating traffic with this team.

Alejandro Kirk was the ultimate hero in this one, delivering a bases-loaded sac fly to cap off a three-run bottom of the ninth and give the Blue Jays (86-62) their MLB-best 45th comeback win of the season, maintaining their three-game cushion over the Yankees in the American League East.

Every win matters. The Blue Jays’ knack for eking them out has led to a season’s worth of thrilling moments.

“It’s not great on my heart,” manager John Schneider said with a grin. “It’s not great on my ticker, but it’s awesome to watch it unfold.”

They’ve watched it unfold enough times at this point. The more they do it, the more they believe they can. That’s what leads to moments like Saturday’s bottom of the ninth.

A sellout crowd of 42,461 was already on its feet before a run even came through, sparked by Daulton Varsho’s perfectly placed bunt and heads-up baserunning to take second on a throwing error against lefty Keegan Akin. Each at-bat afterward did something to up the decibel level, as the Blue Jays worked three consecutive singles to tie the game. Then came Kirk, who had entered as pinch-hitter in the eight and already delivered an RBI single.

“I wanted those at-bats,” Kirk said in Spanish. “I wanted to play today. And, well, it worked out in our favor.”

That eagerness should come as no surprise -- and not just because Kirk felt well-rested after sitting Thursday’s finale against the Astros. The Blue Jays are hungry for these wins, each of them inching the club closer to a postseason spot and an AL East title.

Still, they’re exercising patience, seldom veering away from their brand of ball as they build these comebacks.

In many ways, it starts with the pitching staff. Max Scherzer also had to be patient after allowing a pair of runs to score in the top of the first. He proceeded to put up four zeros on the board to keep the game where it was and allow the offense to do its part. It helps to have 45 games of data: give these guys enough time and they’ll pick you up, more often than not.

“We have this mentality that we're just going to win,” said Scherzer. “We're going to find a way to kick, scratch and claw our way back into this, and our offense has that identity. Pitchers smell that. We know that if we give up a few, if we keep throwing up zeros, this offense is going to come back. They're not going to go away. That's just us playing good as a unit.”

The word “unit” is imperative.

Take a peek at Toronto’s dugout in the middle of a late rally. You’ll find everybody on the top railing, glued to the action, “living and breathing it” with each other, in Scherzer’s words.

It’s true that the act of hitting is solitary, but the Blue Jays are epitomizing the one-through-nine mentality.

“Chemistry is obvious,” said Schneider. “I wish you guys could be in our dugout sometimes, when things like that are happening. … It's fun to be a part of that. They're just pulling for one another, and it gets a little bit contagious.”

That is also key, especially for a team that uses its bench as aggressively as the Blue Jays. Every position player available made their way into the game, most of them delivering in some capacity.

Even the guys watching from the dugout have a crucial role to play in these late-inning heroics.

“When everyone is attentive to the game, with every pitch, every hit, every run we score, you can feel the energy and the good vibes in the dugout,” said Kirk. “I think that’s what’s been helping us.”

Some boring wins wouldn’t hurt, though.

Schneider let out a big sigh as he made his way down from the podium after speaking to reporters, knowing full well this isn’t the last time his "ticker" will be put to the test. If the Blue Jays have their way, these thrillers will continue deep into October.

“We’ve just got to keep going,” said Scherzer. “There's bigger games in front of us, and we’ve still got a lot of work to do in order to get to the playoffs.”