The good news: Alek Manoah was amazing. It cost him a pitch. In the seventh he gave up a ball single to JP, Crawford and then a crushing home run to Carlos Santana. Overall he went 7.1, allowed just 3 hits, 4 walks (2 of those walks came in the eighth inning) and 7 strikeouts. If we could score a little it would be a great game. Unfortunately, Robbie Ray was excellent himself. He went 6 innings, allowed just 3 hits, 2 walks, with 6 strikeouts. The only game against him was George Springer at home. We had a shot to break it open in the fifth. The inning began with back-to-back walks to Alejandro Kirk and Teoscar Hernandez. Lourdes Gurriel singled to load the bases with no outs. But:
Matt Chapman struck out. He really needed to get in touch. He got a close goal against him that could have made it 3-1, but instead tied it at 2-2. Santiago Espinal also hit. He royally broke on a pitch from the plate. He should have been up 2-0, instead it was 1-1 and then he had to swing at the next pitch off the plate. And Raimel Tapia left.
In a tight game like this, you have the bases loaded with no outs, you have to score some. We didn’t. Other than that inning, Ray was in charge. Amazingly Mariners reliever Matt Brash (Lourdes fouled off nine 2-strike pitches before striking out) and Andres Munoz threw hard even off Ray and each had perfect innings with 2 hits apiece. We had another shot in the 9th. After Bo walked out on the first pitch. Vlad and Kirk both stood out. Teoscar Hernandez left. Surprisingly to me, the Mariners intentionally walked Lourdes Gurriel to field Matt Chapman with the bases loaded. But Chapman, after hitting over the belt, retired. The Jays were 1 for 6 with RISP. Jays of the Day? I give one to Manoah even though his numbers weren’t great (-.109 WPA). Also Kirk (.125), Springer (.109) and Gurriel (.102). Suckage: Chapman (-.344, 0 for 4, 3 k), Espinal (-.169, 0 for 4), Tapia (-.143, 0 for 3, 2 k), Bichette (-.121, 0 for 4 ). , 2k). Tomorrow is a day game. 4:00 Eastern. It will be a matchup day for the Jays. Logan Gilbert (10-3, 2.61) for the Mariners.
