Blue Jays’ 16 Hits Are Not Turnaround Proof

There is a dangerous kind of Blue Jays box score.

The kind that looks so pleasant it tries to end the conversation.

Sixteen hits. Seven runs. A 7-2 win over the Atlanta Braves. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with 3 hits. Ernie Clement with 3 hits. Myles Straw driving in 3. Tyler Heineman doubling in 2 in the ninth.

If you only want to feel better, there is plenty here.

If you want to understand the team, keep reading the box score.

The Blue Jays left 12 on base.

They lost 2 of 3 in Atlanta.

They are 30-33.

They are fourth in the division.

So no, this was not a turnaround announcement.

It was a good game from a team still stuck proving it can have two good games in the same direction.

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Traffic is not the same thing as identity

Toronto put runners all over the place Thursday.

That is better than the alternative, obviously. Nobody should be scolded for hits.

Clement went 3 for 5. Guerrero went 3 for 5. Lukes went 2 for 3. Straw went 2 for 5. Heineman went 2 for 5. Okamoto went 2 for 5.

That is a lineup doing work.

But the Blue Jays cannot use one night of volume as evidence that the offence has found itself.

Not when 12 runners were left on base.

Not when the scoring was packed into the third and ninth innings.

Not when the team’s season line still says 257 runs in 63 games, 4.08 runs per game, a .247 batting average, a .694 OPS, and 59 home runs.

That is the core argument.

The Jays can hit enough to make you believe for a night. They have not hit enough to make the standings believe for a season.

And the standings are the only audience that matters.

The third inning was the plan. The ninth was the rescue

The best version of Thursday came early.

In the top of the third, Charles McAdoo singled off Chris Sale to score Guerrero. Then Straw singled off Sale to score Okamoto and McAdoo.

Three runs against Sale is a legitimate event.

That should be praised.

Then the game became much tighter than a 16-hit afternoon should have been.

Atlanta got one back in the bottom of the third when Matt Olson hit a sacrifice fly off Chad Dallas and Ronald Acuña Jr. scored. Then Mauricio Dubón homered off Braydon Fisher in the eighth.

At that point, the game was 3-2.

This is the part the final score tries to hide.

Toronto had 16 hits, but the game still needed the ninth inning to breathe.

Nathan Lukes singled off Reynaldo López to score Clement. Straw singled to score Guerrero. Heineman doubled to score Lukes and Straw.

That was the inning that changed the emotional category from nervous to comfortable.

Great inning.

But if the ninth does not arrive with that kind of force, the discussion after the game is much less cheerful.

That is why this cannot be treated like a full offensive exorcism.

It was a strong finish.

It was not a clean bill of health.

This team still plays like a .476 team

The Blue Jays are 5-5 over their last ten.

That is the whole personality right now.

Win one. Lose one. Hit enough. Not enough. Feel better. Feel worse. Repeat until everyone starts confusing motion with progress.

Thursday’s win moved the streak to W1.

W1 is not a banner.

It is a receipt.

The Jays did avoid getting swept. They did not avoid losing the series. Tuesday was 4-3 for Atlanta. Wednesday was 7-3 for Atlanta. Thursday was Toronto’s answer.

One answer in three questions is not a passing grade.

Demand repeatability, not relief

This is where the standard has to rise.

The Blue Jays are not a rebuilding team that gets to frame every clean inning as evidence of a brighter tomorrow. They are a fourth-place team under .500 trying to climb out of its own middle.

That requires repeatable offence.

Not one 16-hit game followed by another shrug.

Not a ninth-inning outburst that lets everyone forget how many chances were left sitting on the bases.

Not a lost series softened by a pleasant finale.

Friday brings the Baltimore Orioles to Toronto, with Trey Yesavage listed for the Blue Jays and Brandon Young listed for Baltimore.

Fine.

There is the next test.

If Thursday was a sign, then show it again. If it was just a good day, then say thank you and stop pretending it changed the season.

The Blue Jays do not need applause for having 16 hits once.

They need a direction.

Right now, the direction is still sideways.