BALTIMORE -- If Jeff Hoffman had a nickel for every two-inning relief outing involving extra innings that earned him a win this season, he¡¯d have 10 cents -- which isn¡¯t a lot, but it¡¯s weird that it happened twice.
Not only did it happen twice, though, but it happened twice in one road trip, in back-to-back outings. Perhaps the second of those instances, in which he secured the Blue Jays¡¯ 7-6 win in 10 innings on Sunday afternoon at Camden Yards, meant more, though.
¡°I think the first time I threw two innings on this road trip was the first time I had done that in like, a good, probably, two years,¡± Hoffman said. ¡°So the fact that it happened twice in the same week, that's definitely going to have to go back a little bit further for that.¡±
Hoffman, feeding off an eighth-inning rally that saw Toronto pull even with Baltimore after being down three runs, showed off his best stuff -- and his energetic persona. His scoreless ninth and 10th innings, in which he allowed just one hit while striking out four, enabled the Blue Jays to come out swinging in extras, knowing the closer had their back.
It was Myles Straw who secured the game-winning knock, the second of two straight one-out singles in the 10th to drive in the placed runner at second base, Andr¨¦s Gim¨¦nez.
¡°Dude, he's been -- I mean, not just today, I feel like every time he's been in the game, he's not allowed that runner on second to score,¡± Straw said. ¡°And that's very hard to do with the free baserunner. And, I mean, he's been nails. He's just got to keep doing what he's doing.
¡°That run, obviously we felt like we really needed some runs there. And as we did, Hoffy did a good job of shutting the door.¡±
As his teammates appreciate Hoffman¡¯s impressive arsenal, his manager appreciates his fire -- both in his pitches and his persona -- on the mound.
¡°I love it,¡± John Schneider said. ¡°He does such a good job of containing it. And when he makes pitches he lets it out, which I think is great. He really likes these moments.
¡°He was probably looking forward to this series a little bit after the offseason he had, and rightfully so. He kind of stepped up a little bit, and his stuff was in a little bit of a different gear there in the 10th. So it's great. He's really kind of gotten comfortable in that role, you know, full-time closer, and he's got swing-and-miss stuff. So it's awesome that he is on our team.¡±
Now, about Hoffman¡¯s offseason -- the reason Sunday¡¯s win meant just a little bit more -- ¡°tumultuous¡± would be an apt word to describe the offseason, when first Baltimore, then Atlanta reportedly had deals in place with the right-hander until concerns arose over his physical.
Of course, Hoffman ended up signing a three-year deal with Toronto instead, making his way back to the team that drafted him in the first place. All of that -- or, most of it -- is in the past for Hoffman now, particularly when he steps on the mound.
¡°Outside, you know, when I'm thinking about the games [beforehand], yeah, obviously, like, that's definitely in my head,¡± Hoffman said. ¡°But once I'm in the game, in the moment, I'm focused on making pitches and all that stuff. If you start to think about all that [other] stuff while you're out there, things tend not to go well. So I do my best to stay in the moment and just try to make the next pitch and get my team back in the dugout.¡±
That didn¡¯t stop Hoffman from blowing a kiss toward the O¡¯s dugout after he secured the final out of the 10th inning, though, nor pumping his chest a bit.
But it¡¯s that fire that Toronto likes in its new closer. Perhaps his team even fed off of it when the Blue Jays took the field in the top of the 10th after Hoffman worked around a one-out double in the ninth to escape the frame unharmed.
¡°I saw his one like, little chest bump or whatever, and it was cool to see that,¡± Straw said. ¡°He definitely, he's a dog out there. And, you know, it's fun getting to kind of learn his game and watch him pitch for us on the back end. ... I did not see [him blow a kiss], but, um, whatever he wants to do, he can do it, as long as he keeps pitching like that. He can do whatever he wants.¡±
¡°Jeff is such a good human being and an even better pitcher -- maybe the other way around -- but if that's what fuels it, so be it,¡± Schneider said. ¡°But I'm glad he's on our team.¡±