(Toronto) An average August marked by underperformance and a slide in the standings ended with a shutout victory for the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday.

The 7-0 win over the Washington Nationals left the Blue Jays on a high heading into Thursday’s bye, heading into a six-game road trip that kicks off in Colorado on Friday.

The first game against the Rockies marks the arrival of baseball of the month of September. Torontonians will quickly know if they have what it takes to make the playoffs.

“If we put everything together, I don’t think there’s a better team in MLB,” said Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt (13-7), who shut out eight innings. . It’s just a matter of getting everything in place at the right time. »

The Blue Jays went 14-13 in August and are now 73-61 this season. There are only 28 games left to play.

The good news for them for the Blue Jays is the easier schedule that is on the horizon.

The Toronto squad will play a three-game series against the Rockies, Oakland Athletics and Kansas City Royals – three bottom-ranked teams in their division – before playing a four-game series against the Texas Rangers.

The Rangers are one of three teams the Blue Jays are chasing in the All-American playoff race.

The Blue Jays started the day three and a half games behind the Rangers, Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners, who tied for the top of the West Division and the final two playoff spots. .

“We know our best baseball has yet to be played consistently,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. I liked how the players competed during this series. They will have to give everything for the rest of the season. »

Bassitt allowed just three hits and one walk. He struck out three batters.

Kirk hit home plate twice and hit three of the Blue Jays’ 12 hits. Santiago Espinal drove in two runs and Davis Schneider scored two.

The Torontonian manager called the game “sold out”.

“It started on the mound with Chris, who was fantastic,” Schneider said. We were good defensively and hitting hits. Sounds easy, but there were some good batting appearances up and down our batting order. We did everything well today. »

It was the Blue Jays’ 13th shutout win this season. They improved their interleague record to 28-15, the best in Major League Baseball.

Patrick Corbin (9-12) walked Schneider in the first inning, then a single to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. They had a double steal, then scored on a Kirk double.

Kirk hit another double in the fourth, when the Blue Jays scored two more runs. He reached third base on an Ernie Clement single, then scored on an Espinal single. Cavan Biggio then allowed Clement to spin home with a sacrifice fly.

Corbin allowed six earned runs, 10 hits and one walk in five innings of work.

“Overall, it was just a tough day for all of us,” Corbin observed.

Jay Jackson has caused the last three outs.

Bassitt leads the Majors with eight starts of at least six innings pitched without giving up a run this season. Roger Clemens set the team record in 1997, with nine games.