Home-stand sweep gives sizzling Blue Jays their season-high eighth win a row
Another sold-out crowd at Rogers Centre, another close game against the Los Angeles Angels and yet another win.
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Red hot would mildly describe the current streak the Blue Jays have forged, playing a brand of baseball with virtually every player providing some kind of contribution.
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A seven-game homestand sweep was capped off by Sunday's 3-2 victory as the Blue Jays extended their season-high win streak to eight games to improve their record to 52-38.
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The following are three takeaways before the AL East-leading Blue Jays return home for the first time following baseball's all-star break when they'll play host to San Francisco on July 18 for a three-game series; then comes a return visit by the Yankees, who were swept by the Jays in a four-game series last week.
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Following a poor outing against Arizona, a self-critical Kevin Gausman pulled no punch.
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He would give the Jays 8.0 innings against Cleveland in his next start followed by 5.0 innings against the Yankees on Canada Day.
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Sunday's start was the veteran's 18th of the season, an outing that began by giving up a home run to Mike Trout.
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Gausman recorded five strikeouts through the first two innings and would be aided by an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the fourth.
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The trouble began on a Bo Bichette error, but he did make amends by going deep in the home half.
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Two walks in the fifth inning would help load the bases, but Gausman induced a groundout for the third out to limit the damage in a 2-2 game.
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A leadoff single would be yielded in the sixth inning as Gausman's pitch count would enter triple digits.
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Gausman battled from his first pitch to his last.
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Globe and Mail
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