Well, after a one day only engagement, the offence has gone back on hiatus. It didn’t end up mattering, though, as a combination of solid work from Kevin Gausman and the bullpen and questionable Marlins base running held them to only one run in spite of racking up 11 hits. The Jays are back within two games of .500 and one in the loss column away from a wildcard, somehow.
The Marlins got one off Kevin Gausman early. Xavier Edwards won a 10 pitch battle in the first at bat of the game, lining Gausman’s
10th pitch for a double. One batter later, Otto Lopez snuck a ground ball single up the middle to bring Edwards home. Four of the next five Marlins struck out to get Gaus out of the first and through the second with no damage.
He got into a jam in the third, walking Edwards and Liam Hicks with one out and giving up a line single to Lopez. a double play got him out of it, but it cost him pitches. The fourth was more trouble, as he hit Connor Norby and gave up a ground ball single to Owen Caissie that moved the lead runner to third, but a strikeout and a pop up got him out of trouble once again. Miami managed two more hits in the fifth, but a double play and a ground out prevented either from scoring. That would be the end of Gausman’s afternoon. It took him 95 pitches to get through five. He allowed only one run, but gave up six hits and a pair of walks, while striking out five. It was a messy outing, but he did enough to leave with the game competitive.
Meanwhile, Eury Perez was effectively wild, getting into deep counts but avoiding much hard contact. Vladimir Guerrero jr. reached on a soft line single in the first, and Andres Gimenez had one in the third, but the Jays also struck out seven times in that interval. Guerrero singled again in the fourth, and Kazuma Okamoto was hit by a pitch, but the Jays could not capitalize. Perez got the hook at that point, having taken 73 pitches to get through four. The Jays couldn’t lay a finger on him, striking out nine times without walking and managing just three soft singles.
They fared a little better against the Marlins’ bullpen. Michael Peterson got the first two batters of the fifth, but then Tyler Heineman worked a 10 pitch walk and Nathan Lukes doubled him home to tie the game at one. Peterson intentionally walked Vlad and was replaced by Andrew Nardi to face Daulton Varsho, who he struck out to preserve the lead.
Mason Fluharty started the sixth. He hit Jakob Marsee, but got a fly out from Connor Norby and then some help when Marsee way overshot the bag stealing second and was easily tagged out. Heriberto Hernandez single to replace the base runner, though, and John Schneider called on Jeff Hoffman, who caught Hernandez stealing third after having successfully stolen second. With one out in the bottom half, Okamoto took his revenge for the HBP by taking Nardi deep to the opposite field for a solo home run, putting Toronto in front 2-1.
Hoffman returned for the seventh. Christopher Morel singled, but it was erased when pinch runner Esteury Ruiz was caught stealing second. He got the next batter swinging. Edwards notched his third hit of the afternoon, but another K got Hoffman through with the lead held. John King worked a clean home half of the inning for the Marlins.
Otto Lopez collected his fourth hit of the afternoon off Louis Varland to begin the eighth. That brought his tally to 75 on the year, leading the league by eight over teammate Xavier Edwards. Kyle Stowers follwoed with a ground ball single of his own. Varland fielded a chopper by the next batter himself and almost threw it away into centre field. Andres Gimenez made a game saving catch to record one out and hold the lead runner at third. He then struck Norby out and got Stowers, the runner on first, hung up halfway to second on a delayed steal for an inning ending double play. Pete Fairbanks set the Jays down in order.
It fell to Tyler Rogers to lock down the one run save. He made it look easy, getting through a 1-2-3 inning on seven pitches.
Jays of the Day: Okamoto (0.18), Lukes (0.13), Gausman (0.14), Hoffman (0.12), Varland (0.13), Rogers (0.16)
Less So: Varsho (-0.13)
It’s off to Baltimore for a four game set beginning tomorrow. Patrick Corbin (2-1, 3.86) will start the opener for the Jays. The Orioles haven’t announced pitchers yet. First pitch is set for 6:35pm ET.
