By Globalnews Digital The Canadian Press
TORONTO 鈥 Contributions from all four corners of the Toronto Blue Jays roster have played a massive role in their two-month ascension to the top spot in the American League East.
There were many examples of different players leading the way in the Blue Jays鈥 first four-game home sweep of the division-rival New York Yankees in team history.
Deadlocked in the fourth inning of the series finale on Thursday, a dogged Nathan Lukes endured a 14-pitch at-bat to poke a two-run double down the left-field line that sparked the home side to an 8-5 win before 36,848 at Rogers Centre.
With Bo Bichette nursing a sore knee, Lukes was the third different player Toronto manager John Schneider employed in the leadoff role in the series after Ernie Clement and Andres Gimenez took turns.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 an at-bat where you can look back three, four days from now, a month from now, and say, 鈥榯hat wasn鈥檛 just an at-bat that helped us win this game,’鈥 said George Springer, who continued his hot hitting with a pair of two-run homers to bring his season total to a team-leading 15.
鈥淔or him to keep going, to keep grinding, fighting off pitch after pitch after pitch, and not have a timeout after the fifth pitch was unbelievable.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 an at-bat where he completely flipped the script.鈥
The Blue Jays flipped their script back in early May. They have gone 32-18 since May 8 with only the Houston Astros enjoying a better record at 34-17.
Chris Bassitt (8-4), who tossed a gusty 113-pitch outing in the series finale, believes the team鈥檚 culture has been the difference.
鈥淵eah, I would say the culture that we鈥檝e been able to build here,鈥 Bassitt said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 taken a while.
鈥淲e鈥檙e getting rewarded for playing the game the right way and playing the game hard, not much more than that. I think it鈥檚 an old-school approach of how to play the game. Obviously, we have a lot of talented guys in the room, so you have a lot of talented guys playing the way that we鈥檙e playing.鈥
Addison Barger also has chipped in since being promoted from triple-A Buffalo. He homered for the second straight game, increasing his total to 11, and finished the series finale 3 for 4 with two RBI to help the Blue Jays extend their win streak to a season-high tying five games.
鈥淲hat he鈥檚 done for us this series was great,鈥 Schneider said. 鈥淪ince he鈥檚 been up here, he鈥檚 been damn good and has added a dynamic to our lineup that we desperately needed. You need stories like that.鈥
Schneider鈥檚 team also wouldn鈥檛 be in first place without the leadership and the comeback season from Springer. The 35-year-old was coming off a poor 2024 and endured a horrible spring training, too.
In his last 11 games, Springer has batted 20 for 39 (.513) with four homers, 19 RBI, 14 runs scored, six walks and three stolen bases.
鈥淚鈥檓 never going to count George Springer out of anything until he hangs up his cleats,鈥 Schneider said. 鈥淲henever that is don鈥檛 know. I hope it鈥檚 not for a couple of years. I love that he鈥檚 here. He鈥檚 proven time and time again that he鈥檚 one of the best players in the league.鈥
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 3, 2025.