Blue Jays’ confidence on fine display with win over Red Sox

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During visitors' batting practice before Friday's game, Boston Red Sox pitcher Joe Kelly was in the outfield shagging flies. He's been shut down for the season with shoulder soreness. And, perhaps, other kinds of soreness.

Kelly turned and began urging the fans in the left-field bleachers to cheer for a ball. They cheered. Kelly flapped his arms. They cheered harder. This went on for a lot longer than it needed to.

Finally, Kelly made as if to underhand the ball up into the stands. Instead, he continued the motion, swivelled 180 degrees and rolled the ball back into the infield.

And the Red Sox wonder why people hate them.

(It ended in a sort of justice. After Kelly was relentlessly booed, he scurried after the next ball hit in his vicinity and tossed it up to the mob. It didn't look like generosity. It looked like fear.) Things have changed in the American League East. Some people don't like it very much. Last-place Boston likes it less than anyone.

Their season ended in the middle of July. Their batting order reads like David Ortiz headlining a Triple-A all-star team. Even their press corps looks demoralized.

The Red Sox aren't just playing out the string. They are Weekend at Bernie's-ing their way through three months of baseball, dragging their own corpse along.

In another one of those outings that never seemed in doubt, the Blue Jays won 6-1. Their clinching number (Jays wins + Minnesota Twins losses) for a first postseason berth in 22 years is reduced to seven. It's not quite guaranteed yet, but nobody's going to get upset if you start acting like it is.

The goal remains more expansive – the AL East title and the best record in the league. That's not just doable. The Jays are playing as though they expect it to happen.

Everyone who cares about Toronto baseball ought to come down Saturday or Sunday and take a good, long look at the humbled Boston squad. Do it in the same spirit you take your kids to visit a prison: "Johnny, I don't ever want this to be you. Don't ruin your life by becoming a Red Sock."

Is this triumphalism? You're absolutely right it is. The Red Sox never bothered winning with much dignity. Plus, someone has to pay for those beards. Why should we do them any sympathetic favours?

Plus, it feels like a little swagger helps. Everything is going the Blue Jays' way right now. Every single thing. If this is cockiness, it's effective.

For the first time this year, Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman made a start at home. Seven months out of the big leagues really ought to have dented the 24-year-old's stride. Instead, he seems even better than the pitcher who wrapped up the 2014 season. And that guy was the best pitcher on the team.

Stroman alternately teased and overpowered the second-rate Boston lineup. They did not manage a hit until the third. They didn't score until the fifth (where Stroman spread out three hits, but allowed only one run).

According to manager John Gibbons, Stroman has "no physical limitations" (i.e. no maximum pitches per outing). Though it defies common wisdom, he's in mid-season form.

A couple of weeks ago, the rotation looked like the biggest problem for Toronto in the postseason. With the return of Stroman and recent strong performances by Marco Estrada, it now looks like a strength.

All of a sudden, you're struck by Toronto's all-round game. It was there throughout the opener with Boston, who pushed out the reliably forlorn Rick Porcello.

When it looked like a pitcher's duel, Toronto ground out a single run on a leadoff Kevin Pillar double. Your new favourite player, Cliff Pennington, bunted Pillar over to third. He scored on a Ben Revere groundout.

The Jays don't need small ball, but sometimes they'll just do it for fun. Like a bugler turning his horn the wrong way round to see what sort of sound it makes.

A small note on Pennington, who made two key sacrifices in the No. 9 spot and played customary standout defence. We still don't know where Troy Tulowitzki (cracked shoulder blade) is at, but the Band-Aid is sticking.

In the 39 games since he's become a Blue Jay, Tulowitzki was hitting .232 with five home runs. Take away his three-hit debut, and it's .220.

In seven games as Tulowitzki's replacement, Pennington is hitting .260 with two home runs. That's half as many homers as he's hit in the past two seasons.

You wouldn't want to try this comparison over a long period, but it's working right now. Assuming Tulowitzki's return remains a longshot unless the Jays go deep in the postseason, it's notable how easily it's gone. The Ryan Goins-Pennington middle infield partnership already looks like it's existed for years.

This is another hallmark of great teams – roster wounds don't bleed for long. They heal over quickly, with whatever human-shaped salve is at hand.

The supporting cast takes its dramatic cues from the stalwarts (though it seems like everyone is suddenly one of those). Dependability is the current theme.

The usual suspects decisively turned the game in the fourth. Jose Bautista walked. A hard hit Edwin Encarnacion grounder was bobbled. Justin Smoak doubled. Goins tripled off the right-field wall.

In between, Porcello – possibly suffering from pride soreness – nearly decapitated Russell Martin. As we enter the final lap, the Jays' tendency to run up a crooked score is making them targets, quite literally.

It's been a long time since anyone bothered to hate the Toronto Blue Jays. The rest of baseball has spent two decades looking at this team like competitive wallpaper. Now, with everything coming up aces, the Jays are worth someone's resentment again.

It's amazing how much you can miss that feeling.