Springer, Scherzer show off old tricks at key moment for Blue Jays

PITTSBURGH -- The best revenge is living well.

Monday’s long, messy loss only got longer and messier with each one of Tommy Pham’s social media posts after benches cleared earlier in the night, but the Blue Jays put all of that to rest with a 7-3 win Tuesday over the Pirates that hit all the right notes.

Playing without the injured Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the Blue Jays did exactly what great teams do and leaned on their veterans when they needed them. This has been a season without much drama, without much distraction and without much bad news, so even these brief wobbles are valuable tests. Besides, even the postseason brings bad days.

“You just have to believe in yourself,” George Springer said. “You know, as a team, that you’re better than the night before. We know there was some stuff we could have done better -- you learn from it, then you move on.”

Springer was out in front Tuesday night -- because of course he was. Throughout this renaissance season for the 35-year-old, Springer has gone from a surprise story to the reborn star who his teammates look to in difficult times. Sure, Guerrero is the Blue Jays’ best player and Bo Bichette is still next in line for that “face of the franchise” throne, but Springer represents the Blue Jays’ identity better than anyone. He’s good, he’s timely, he’s running a million miles an hour and he’s shocking everyone.

In Springer’s first at-bat of the night, he was hit by a Mitch Keller pitch that sailed high and inside, immediately reigniting some of the tension from the night before -- when Pham flipped his bat down onto home plate after a four-pitch walk and the dugouts emptied. Nothing came of it, though, and the next time Springer strolled up to the plate, he launched his 20th home run of the season, 423 feet to dead center.

Springer now has hits in all four games since returning from missing just over two weeks on the concussion IL, which has come as a huge relief. This has been a storybook season for Springer, but any injury and any disruption of timing can derail momentum. Springer’s making it clear that the 2025 season isn’t just one last hot streak, though. This is still who Springer is, and these are the exact moments the Blue Jays brought Springer and his postseason pedigree to Toronto to shine in.

“He sets the tone,” said Toronto manager John Schneider. “Whether it’s hitting home runs, grinding out at-bats, advancing on a dirt ball, scoring from first, stealing a base, he’s the epitome of what we’re doing. I can’t speak highly enough of him, the way he’s going about this and the way other guys are responding to what he’s doing.”

On the mound was Max Scherzer. He’s six years Springer’s senior, but there’s a fountain of youth hidden somewhere in the Blue Jays’ clubhouse.

Scherzer is all the way back. He cranked it up to 104 pitches over six innings of one-run ball, and at this point, he’s not just flashing the top end of his talent, he’s showing it every time he steps on the mound. Over Scherzer’s past four starts, he’s gone at least six innings in each and has given the Blue Jays a 1.80 ERA over 25 frames.

Every conversation around the Blue Jays from now until the end of September needs to have an eye on October. When the Blue Jays signed Scherzer to that one-year, $15.5 million deal, the dream was him pitching postseason games. It’s taken a long, often complicated road to get here as Scherzer dealt with that nagging thumb issue, but in a way that no one planned on, perhaps it’s left Scherzer with a full tank of gas for the games that matter most.

“I just love it. You play for this. This is what you live for, to be in this position and be competing for a playoff spot,” Scherzer said. “This team, we’ve done such a great job of being consistent in all facets of the game from starting pitching to hitting, relief pitching and defense. You name it, we’ve all contributed. It’s not just one guy. It’s a total team effort. That’s when it’s fun. That’s when it’s the best.”

The Blue Jays aren’t atop the AL East by accident. It’s Aug. 19 and they’ve already tied their win total from last year (74). A year ago, the bad moments became bad weeks and bad months. This year, they just keep disappearing overnight.