Padres Beat Jays 9-1

Alek Manoah really struggled in his second start back from his stint down at the complex. It wasn’t all on him, the Padres got several big assists from home plate umpire Malachi Moore. That included a couple of clear strike threes that were called balls and lead directly to runs. His defence also let him down. In the third, George Springer took a strange route to a Juan Soto liner and missed his dive badly, turning an out or at worst a single into an RBI double. In the fourth, Matt Chapman bobbled a soft Trent Grisham grounder that should have been the second out, instead allowing a single that forced Schneider to pull Manoah from the game. Then there was the plain bad luck, like the soft Fernando Tatis grounder that skipped off the third base bag and over Chapman’s head, turning a routine out into a leadoff double. So Manoah was definitely snakebit tonight. That doesn’t totally let him off the hook, though. He struggled to locate both his slider and change, alternately missing far outside the zone and serving up meatballs. His fastball was a bit better located, but he was mostly around 92mph and never touched 94, and the Padres didn’t exactly look intimidated. In the end, he faced 18 batters and allowed half to reach, including five walks, while failing to record a strikeout in 3+ innings. It was a dispiriting showing after a very promising first appearance back. He left down 4-1 with two on in the fourth.

Nate Pearson came on to try to limit the damage and retired three Padres in order to limit the damage. He came back for the fifth and wasn’t as strong, giving up a solo homer to Manny Machado another to Gary Sanchez.

Jay Jackson handled the sixth, working a clean inning around a ground ball single. He did one better in the seventh, sitting the Padres down in order.

They waved the Mitch White flag in the eighth. Trent Grisham extended the lead to 7-1 with a one out solo shot in the eighth. Finally, San Diego added two more in the ninth on a walk, single, double, and sac fly.

The Jays lineup looked like they had a handle on Joe Musgrove early. Springer and Bo Bichette lead off the bottom of the first with line singles, and after two strikeouts Chapman was able to bring Springer home with a single of his own. It was an illusion, though. Musgrove rallied to retire seven of the next eight batters. They threatened again in the fourth, with a Chapman walk and a Merrifield single putting two on with none out, but a pop out and a double play ended the inning. The next two innings were quiet, and Musgrove ultimately left after six with a 6-1 lead. The Jays managed just five hits and a walk off him, while striking out seven times.

Again in the seventh the first two batters would reach. Facing reliever Tom Cosgrove, Daulton Varsho bunted his way on and Danny Jansen followed with a walk. Again, though, a ground out and a double play prevented them from scoring.

Alek Jacob worked an easy 1-2-3 eighth. He’d walk pinch hitter Cavan Biggio in the ninth, but Toronto did nothing with it.

Jays of the Day: Only Chapman (0.140) had the number

Sonned by the Padres: Manoah (-0.319), and Belt (-0.085) have the number, but really everyone except Chapman, Bo, Merrifield and Jackson deserves a share.

Well, tomorrow almost has to be better. Jose Berrios (8-6, 3.41) should be a stabilizing influence, and hopefully the Jays can do more against Yu Darvish (6-6, 4.65) than they managed against Musgrove. Game is 7:07 ET.