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It only took three pitches for the Jays to jump on top against Rockies starter Tanner Gordon. Nathan Lukes doubled on the game’s first delivery and then, after taking a pitch in the dirt, Bo Bichette singled Lukes home. Each of them would add two more safeties: Lukes had a single and another double, Bichette a pair of home runs in a career-high six-RBI night.

Two teammates also had at least three hits: Ernie Clement led the charge with a career-high five knocks (three singles, a double and a triple) and Joey Loperfido (who singled three times).

All told, the Jays smacked 25 hits, the third-highest total in franchise history and the most for any team in the major leagues this season. They nearly doubled their run differential for the entire season, from plus-16 to plus-30.

While all this offence was happening, left-hander Eric Lauer was quietly taming the Rockies’ bats. He allowed one run on seven hits over six innings, walking one and striking out four to improve to 7-2.

Fastballs

Varsho vs. Bernabel

Daulton Varsho reminded everyone what the Jays had been missing while he sat out more than two months with a strained hamstring, and not just with a third-inning home run.聽

Yes, Varsho was leading the Jays in round-trippers when he got hurt at the end of May, and it only took him until his third game back to go deep again, but he got a chance to show off his gold glove on a Warming Bernabel line drive in the fourth.

Bernabel’s sinking liner was headed for the grass in the enormous outfield in Coors Field when Varsho sprinted in, dove headlong and made an outstanding grab, snagging the ball and then tumbling toward the infield.

The expected batting average on that line drive was .940.

In the big innings

The Jays batted around in the third and seventh innings, combining to score a dozen runs on 13 hits over those two frames.

In the third, eight straight players came to the plate without recording an out, though Davis Schneider was thrown out on the bases. Varsho’s homer came after Alejandro Kirk became the first batter retired, on a fly out to right field.

In the seventh, they spread the outs a little more, scoring on RBI singles by Lukes and Kirk and Bichette’s second round-tripper. One of the outs was a rocket of a line drive off the bat of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Second baseman Thairo Estrada went straight up to snare the 108.5-m.p.h. shot.

Cooling Warming

Bernabel was named National League player of the week on Monday, after his first full week in the major leagues. The 23-year-old first baseman hit .462 with four doubles, two homers and seven RBIs for the week ending Aug. 3, with three hits Saturday and four more Sunday. Lauer, with help from Varsho’s great catch, held the rookie to just a ground-ball single in three trips on a 1-for-4 night.

Mailbag

Andyman72 found me on Bluesky @wilnerness to ask if, with the impending arrival of Shane Bieber:聽“Do you foresee a six-man rotation given that there’s no obvious candidate to come out?”

Andy, these things do have a way of working themselves out, but if Bieber is ready to go and the other five Jays starters are all still healthy and available, I do see them moving to a modified six-man rotation the rest of the way. The youngest member of the rotation is Lauer, who’s 30, and so giving Jos茅 Berr铆os, Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt and Max Scherzer and extra day of rest will be imperative.

The Jays will be careful not to give the entire group too many extra days, though, so there may come a point where somebody’s start gets skipped or, possibly, Lauer moves to the bullpen for a turn or two.