Nice Start from Manoah, Jays Beat A’s

A’s 3 Blue Jays 4

Another terrific start from Alek Manoah. He’s fun to watch (I guess every pitcher is fun to watch when they are going great). Today he went 6 innings, allowed 4 hits, 2 walks, 2 earned, with 6 strikeouts. He gave up a Stephen Vogt home run and hit a batter, but he was pretty much in control through his 6 innings.

We couldn’t score more than a run an inning on offence, and that hurt. We should have had more runs. We scored:

1 in the first: Springer reached on a Sheldon Neuse error, and went to third on Bo Bichette’s single (get hustle by Springer) and a Lourdes Gurriel sac fly brought Springer home.

1 in the second: Zack Collins led off with a double (Collins has been a nice pickup so far), and Santiago Espinal singled him home. We should have scored more. Kirk walked, and Cavan replaced him at first on a force-out, but Springer struck out, and home play umpire Shane Livingstone called a stealing Biggio out on catcher interference. It was a strange call, as Vogt wasn’t throwing to second (not wanting the runner on third to score). It was weird. I thought, at worst, Biggio would be sent back to first base, but no such luck.

1 in the third: With two out, Gurriel doubles, and Matt Chapman singled him home.

1 in the fifth: Gurriel started off the inning with a single. Chapman hit a ground ball to short, but Kevin Smith threw it wild to second, and Gurriel scored on the play.

That was it for scoring. We had 7 hits and 5 walks, but there has been a power shortage lately. more runs would have been nice.

In the bottom of the eighth, with Springer at the plate, Santiago Espinal was caught stealing second, ending the inning. I’m not a big fan of stealing in front of a guy who can hit one out.

The bullpen did the job. It would have been an easier job if we had scored more:

• Tim Mayza got four outs without allowing a baserunner. He had 2 strikeouts.
• Adam Cimber, coming in with one out, had more trouble, giving up 2 hits and a run.
• Jordan Romano got the ninth, got save number 6 (in Jays’ win number 6). A big win would be nice, give Romano a break maybe.

Jays of the Day: Chapman (.172 WPA), Manoah (.135), Mayza (.108) and Romano (.163).

Suckage: Vlad (-.099, for an 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts). In the early going, Vlad is either amazing or going 0 for.

The Jays have tomorrow off, and then they are off to Boston for three games against the Red Sox. Kevin Gausman goes up again TBD in game one. I think Bo and Lourdes deserve an honourable mention.

The Jays are 6-4 after 10 games. Maybe not firing on all cylinders, but they are still in first in the AL East.

There is a little bit of Jays news:

• Hyun Jin Ryu has been put on the IL with forearm soreness. Ryan Borucki is taking his place on the roster.
• And Buck Martinez had his last game in the booth for now. He announced he has cancer, and says it is treatable, but will be away from the team to get the treatment. Can only wish him the best and speediest recovery.