New York Yankees' Brian McCann is out at second as Toronto Blue Jays' Darwin Barney throws to first during the second inning on Wednesday.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
Jason Grilli's first throw in the uniform of the Toronto Blue Jays was not to home plate but to second base.
And the ball was nowhere near the mark and sailed into centrefield for an error.
Talk about awkward.
"I didn't want to create a big situation but obviously, even with all the experience, the adrenalin was definitely flowing and luckily didn't hurt us in the end," Grilli would say afterward about his first play as a Blue Jay.
The errant throw, a pickoff attempt of Ronald Torreyes of the New York Yankees, allowed Torreyes to advance to third base in the top of the seventh inning in their game Wednesday night against Toronto at Rogers Centre.
Fortunately, the play would not cost Grilli or the Blue Jays, who would go on to thump the Yankees 7-0 to earn a three-game sweep over their American League East rival.
In doing so, the Blue Jays won for the seventh time in their last eight outings and put the capper on their season-best fourth straight series victory.
After a slow start, the Blue Jays are suddenly playing to the potential many had anticipated for a team many have pegged as World Series contenders in 2016.
Now heading into Boston to begin a three-game series against the Red Sox, beginning on Friday night at Fenway Park, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons is optimistic the club has finally turned a corner.
"But it's still so early in the season," he said. "I still don't think we've hit our stride yet. The bullpen's starting to line up a little bit better, starting pitching continues to be great."
Grilli, 39, was obtained in a trade with the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday for minor league pitching prospect Sean Ratcliffe, to hopefully add some veteran ballast to a sagging bullpen core.
But it was Grilli who displayed some rookie-like nerves when he took to the mound for the first time with his new team in the top of the seventh with two out and Toronto leading 2-0.
The Yankees had runners at first and second with the dangerous Carlos Beltran at the plate.
After completing his warmup pitches, Grilli stooped over on the mound and proceeded to make several inscriptions in the dirt with his finger.
It was quite a procedure.
He writes the initials T.M. in memory of a childhood friend who died when his heart stopped beating during a basketball game. He also writes C.G. for his grandmother – Cathrine Giampietro.
Last but not least, Grilli adds the initials JJ for his two boys, Jayse and Jayden, and then the Christian Cross.
Good thing Grilli is a fast printer or he might be cited for slowing the game down.
"It's grown over time," Grilli said of the inscriptions he makes every time he enters a game to pitch. "They are all people in my life that have touched me in some way."
After making his errant pick-off attempt at second base, Grilli composed himself for Beltran and got the Yankee slugger to pop out to centrefield to end the Yankee threat.
The Blue Jays responded by scoring five runs in the bottom of the inning to earn the victory and make a winner out of starter Aaron Sanchez, who improved to 5-1 on the year.
Sanchez was mostly spot-on, blanking the Yankees over 6.2 innings, allowing seven hits while striking out six.
Sanchez has now held the opposition to two earned runs or less in seven of his 11 starts this season.
"Sanchez is on a nice little roll," Gibbons said. "I can't even think of any games where he's really struggled that much. I've said many times over the last month, he just keeps getting better and better."