Mundelein grad Borucki, Blue Jays knock off Chicago White Sox
His blood actually started pumping a little higher on Friday and Saturday, the first two days of the series between the Chicago White Sox and Toronto Blue Jays.
"I was looking up to where I used to sit as a kid," Ryan Borucki said.
For "multiple years," Borucki would travel to White Sox games from his home in Mundelein, and he often would dream about pitching at Guaranteed Rate Field.
It was realized Sunday.
"I mean it was awesome," a still beaming Borucki said after starting for the Jays in their 7-4 win over the Sox. "That first pitch, I kind of let loose and then I had to settle down a little bit. It was awesome.
"I couldn't have pictured it any better. So many people I saw warming up, and when I was coming off the mound, so many more people I know from my hometown, parents and everything. It was definitely a dream."
Borucki idolized former White Sox ace Mark Buehrle as a kid. He now wears uniform No. 56 as a tribute to his fellow left-hander, but Borucki wasn't totally comfortable pitching against the team he grew up rooting for.
"It was definitely weird," the 24-year-old starter said. "It's crazy to think I'm actually here and got to play today against the White Sox. It brought back some memories, definitely, when they came out today and (AC/DC's) 'Thunderstruck' was playing. That was a big thing growing up.
"It definitely put chills on the back of my neck. To go out there today and pitch against them was awesome."
Borucki has made only 6 major-league starts since joining Toronto's rotation on June 26, and he's still seeking his first win.
But he did resemble Buehrle by working fast, attacking the strike zone and keeping Sox hitters off balance while allowing 2 runs on 6 hits and 1 walk over 6 innings.
"My changeup was really working today," said Borucki, the Blue Jays' 15th-round draft pick in 2012 out of Mundelein High School. "I was keeping them really off balance and keeping them off my fastball. I was trying to put guys away with my slider, but definitely my changeup was good and the fastball inside, that combo of changeup away, fastball inside really was working today."
The 6-foot-4, 205-pounder might not have a win yet, but the Jays' offense has scored 1 run or fewer when he has been on the mound in 5 of the 6 starts.
"He's been that one guy," Toronto manager John Gibbons said. "Every year it's always somebody. It looks like it's his turn."
Gibbons wasn't at all surprised Borucki pitched so well in Sunday's homecoming.
"I just know the kind of guy he is," Gibbons said. "He's very professional. He just goes out there and pitches his game. I think he's able to block a lot of things out. You could tell from Day One, his first start down in Houston against a great lineup.
"He's always been one of our prized guys, so it's not like he came out of nowhere. He just finally got his opportunity and he's running with it."