"You play to win the game."
The iconic declaration by football coach Herm Edwards 24 years ago should always resonate, even amid the roller-coaster ride of a 162-game Major League Baseball season. Sure, part of the fun of these seven-or-so months is analyzing every win streak or losing skid, as exemplified by both the Red Sox's recent historic hot streak and their five-game downturn. But ultimately, what is important is to score more runs than the opposition on any given day, which is exactly what the Sox did in beating the Blue Jays Thursday, 7-0, at Rogers Centre.
There are, however, wins within the wins. The Red Sox had a few of those, both in Toronto and 510 miles away at Polar Park in Worcester. Payton Tolle. Caleb Durbin. Franklin Arias. They all allowed for a fairly significant feel-good day for this organization.
Besides the Sox's first win in almost a week, keeping firmly in the wild card's second spot (5 games up on surging Detroit), the largest feather in this team's collective cap was the image delivered by Payton Tolle. The lefty dazzled the Jays with eight shutout innings, expertly playing the role of ace for a team that desperately needed such a performance.
After the game, Blue Jays' manager John Schneider admitted his team was "hunting fastballs" from Tolle, a strategy that had done in the starter early in his major league career. No more. The southpaw responded by throwing his curveball twice as much as usual (16 times), the most he had ever offered the pitch in any game throughout his young big league career.
The ability to alter his repertoire was another example of how this pitcher has evolved, landing him at 2.97 ERA after 20 starts, with the Red Sox winning each of Tolle's most recent seven starts.
While there might be some concern or confusion about where Tolle will land in these uncharted workload waters, it should be noted that he has yet to throw more than 100 pitches in any of his outings this season, never going past 91 pitches since July 1. Another noteworthy element of Thursday's outing: Tolle's fastball velocity was also at a season-high.
The other big pat-on-the-back for the Red Sox in their series finale win came courtesy Durbin's grand slam.
While many were scurrying to secure Baseball Savant comparisons between Alex Bregman and Durbin thanks to the Cubs' third baseman's three-home run game (and 1.056 OPS in August), the player currently manning the Sox's hot corner offered a pretty powerful reminder. While cutting off the pinky portion of his batting glove because of a still-swollen fifth finger, Durbin broke open a 1-1 tie with his eighth-inning grand slam.
After three straight games of no hits, Durbin has responded with five in his last two contests, all the while dealing with the dislocated digit. Using his June 25 homer off Cam Schlittler as a jumping off point, this is a player who has managed a .305 batting average and .870 OPS in his last 43 games. That will work. It certainly did when single-handedly reacquiring optimism for his organization with that eighth-inning homer.
And then there was what happened in Worcester.
With the Red Sox's game playing on the big screen during pregame warmups at Polar Park, Arias was suddenly living life as the No. 3 prospect in all of baseball, according to MLB Pipeline. This was a jump from No. 31, with the infielder sitting only behind Double-A shortstops Jesus Made (Brewers) and Leo De Vries (A's).
How did Arias celebrate? He continued the conversation regarding a possible promotion with three more hits, including his 23rd home run of his season (4th in 15 games with Triple-A Worcester). He currently has a .947 OPS since his promotion to the WooSox after totaling a .993 OPS with Double-A Portland.
So, could Arias offer the same sort of jumper cables another 20-year-old did 13 years earlier when Xander Bogaerts jumped aboard the Red Sox's World Series run? It's a bit more complicated than back then. If Arias is moved up, he would be put on the 40-man roster. That would mean that if/when there is a lockout next season, he wouldn't be allowed to continue his development by playing in whatever minor-league games might be taking place.
At this rate, however, such a maneuver might be worth it.
While such decisions await the Red Sox in these final weeks of the regular season, having days like this one to reflect on can be a powerful push. They won the game, and they won the day.
