ARLINGTON -- Bo Bichette almost needed a day off Wednesday as he battled a bout of lower back tightness. But he loosened up enough to swing the bat once -- and what a dramatic swing it was.
Bichette broke a scoreless tie with a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the ninth and lifted the Blue Jays to a 2-0 victory in the finale of their six-game road trip.
Against Rangers reliever Jacob Webb, Bichette took the first pitch, a called strike, and then launched a 386-foot game-changer into the left field seats at Globe Life Field. The Blue Jays, having been mired in a frustrating offensive funk, erupted in celebration in the dugout.
“You kind of need a big hit to get you going -- whether it’s a home run, a broken bat, whatever it is -- and tonight, we got it,” manager John Schneider said. “Hopefully, we can just move on from a tough road trip, offensively, and get back to work.”
Schneider said before the game that Bichette might be able to come in should the right situation present itself. Bichette said he didn’t have to plead his case to be available, but he was emphatic that he could help if necessary.
“There was definitely a lot of, ‘Are you sure? Are you sure?’” Bichette said. “And I said yes -- but I was asked the question a few times.”
So the Blue Jays’ everyday leadoff hitter spent much of the middle innings taking swings, stretching and working with athletic trainers to see if he could go.
“I had a feeling I would be able to figure it out, but I didn't know until I took a swing ... maybe like the fourth or fifth inning,” Bichette said.
He told Schneider and bench coach Don Mattingly somewhere around the sixth that he was ready to go if the club needed him.
And did they ever.
After plating only two runs in the first 26 innings in Texas, and struggling with runners on base -- especially in scoring position -- Bichette against Webb with a man on second was the Blue Jays’ last, best chance to break through. Bichette met the moment.
“I was just trying to get ready and just prepare for that situation if it came up,” Bichette said. “I was in and out of the dugout -- I didn’t have much of a feel for the game, to be honest. I’m just trying to be ready for that opportunity.”
Ernie Clement singled to start the inning, then took second on a sacrifice bunt -- that’s how hard the Blue Jays were scratching for a run -- before Bichette’s two-out homer.
Those heroics saved Toronto from having to ruminate on yet another troublesome performance with runners on base, particularly in scoring position. The Blue Jays were 0-for-8 Wednesday in that situation prior to Bichette’s homer, and just 3-for-44 (.068) during the road trip with runners in scoring position before Bichette went deep.
The Blue Jays left 48 runners on base in their six-game sojourn -- but not the last one.
“We needed something to kind of go our way,” Schneider said. “It feels like there’s been balls hit hard, balls hit to the track that hadn’t really worked out for us. Yeah -- that was a good moment.”
Fortunately for the Blue Jays, the Rangers’ offense has fared no better lately, and Toronto pieced together a one-hit shutout thanks to opener Paxton Shultz (2 2/3 innings), Eric Lauer (3 1/3 innings), Braydon Fisher (1 1/3 innings), Brendon Little (two-thirds of an inning) and Jeff Hoffman, who earned the save with a perfect ninth.
“I give the guys so much credit,” Schneider said, “Because, to get out of here with a series win, you’re not scoring a lot -- it’s four runs in three games. The pitching was outstanding, obviously, tonight, and it’s just -- you needed that hit right there.”