2024 Blue Jays Win Championship Series in 35+ Sunday Division of Sacramento MSBL
Sacramento MSBL, 35+ Sunday Division
Sacramento Blue Jays 9, Sacramento Rays 1 (Game three in best-of-three championship series)
The Sacramento Blue Jays defeated the Sacramento Rays two games to one to win the Sacramento MSBL 35+ Sunday championship. The Rays defeated the Blue Jays 10-7 in an epic “game for the ages” battle in game one. Tied 5-5 after nine innings, both teams matched runs scored but neither team could put the other away until the Rays scored three in the top of the 14th and the Jays couldn’t answer back, giving the Rays a 10-7 victory.
JD Berrios pitched 11 great innings in game one, with Travis Robinson finishing up the final three frames. With a scheduled Doubleheader and both teams completely exhausted, they still had another game to play. Fortunately, the Blue Jays were able to get it going for game two.
Travis Robinson, who had already pitched the final three innings in game one, went all nine in game two to earn the 11-5 win. He threw a total of 12 innings on the day and was admittedly tired around the seventh inning of game two but had enough left in the tank for the complete game.
“I’m proud of the resilience of this squad,” said Blue Jays manager Dave Whitesel. “To lose a heartbreaker in game one and to be able to dig deep to find a way to win the second speaks volumes about these guys.”
The following week Travis (Robinson) was tapped to start game three. He again threw a complete game. This one was a 9-1 gem in which only two Rays runners got to third base, giving the Jays their second consecutive championship and their third in five years. In 2023 they won the 18 Central Division championship.
Said Blue Jays manager Dave Whitesel, “This was a great team effort. Everyone contributed and was overall an easy group to manage. They’re all good ballplayers and a great group of guys as well. Also, when Travis shows up wearing his yellow aviators, I like our chances.”
Everybody contributed in the rubber game either offensively or with solid defense. Mike Alegria led the way with four hits, Scott Spanner and Sean Piper each had three, and Whitesel had two.
The Blue Jays went 14-4 in the regular season, finishing first in the division. They faced off against the Trash Pandas in the playoff game and narrowly squeaked out a 7-5 win. Billy Arellano led the team in hitting in the regular season and continued it into the playoffs. Warren Alston led off and did a great job behind the dish all season.