The Ottawa Senators have not had a healthy top-four blue line all season and Nick Jensen’s limited mobility is having a negative impact down the stretch.
TORONTO – Bo Bichette touched the first base bag, began clapping his hands vigorously and then stared across the diamond into the Toronto Blue Jays’ dugout before raising his arms.
It was a strong show of emotion in the eighth inning from the Blue Jays shortstop, who has spent the season’s opening week reminding his teammates — and the fans at Rogers Centre — of the Bo Bichette they once knew.
But if there was any validation for Bichette in coming through during a big moment, he wasn’t saying so.
“Big hit and went ahead late in the game,” Bichette said afterward.
With two outs in the eighth inning on Tuesday night and the Blue Jays and Washington Nationals deadlocked at 3-3, Bichette quickly went down 0-2 in the count to hard-throwing left-hander Jose Ferrer.
He fouled off an 89-m.p.h. changeup down in the zone, then Ferrer went inside on Bichette with a 98.4-m.p.h. sinker. It’s an incredibly tough pitch to make contact with, much less do something substantial with.
Yet, Bichette was able to pull his hands into his body enough to get his bat to the ball. He sent a bouncer up the first-base line to drive in two runs in what stood up as the game-winning hit of the Blue Jays’ 5-3 victory over the Nationals.
Bichette was asked after the game if he was surprised he was able to keep the ball fair.
“No,” he said with a smile, later adding that he prepared himself to be able to handle that pitch.
“That’s really it. I prepare for that and once the game goes, I just try to let that happen.”