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Instant Reaction: Blue Jays won 3-2 thanks to an Isiah Kiner-Falefa walk-off single

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Miraculously, the Blue Jays will have a chance to play for the series split against the tough Baltimore Orioles.

On Wednesday evening, the Blue Jays defeated the Orioles 3-2 with a walk-off hit to bring their record to 29-32, still the worst in the American League East, but a good win all around.

Once again, the Orioles took the lead early in the game, as Anthony Santander hit his 12th home run of the season to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead. This was followed by a Ramón Urías double that scored Cedric Mullins.

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However, the Jays clawed back in the next half inning, as Alejandro Kirk hit a sacrifice fly to cut the lead in half, before Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit a single that scored Justin Turner to tie the game.

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Heading into the ninth, Justin Turner hit another single, his third of the ninth, to give the Blue Jays a base runner with no outs. Cavan Biggio replaced him, and was nearly picked off, but Oriole pitcher Craig Kimbrel made an error, letting Biggio head to second. After an Alejandro Kirk deep sacrifice fly, Isiah Kiner-Falefa of all players, walked it off for the Jays.

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Things worth mentioning…

The Blue Jays have gone 27 straight games without scoring a run in the first inning. According to Keegan Matheson, there’s only one longer streak in the past decade, the San Francisco Giants in 2018 and 2019, who didn’t score in 29 games. My money is on the Jays going much further than this.

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On the flip side, the Jays have scored an MLB-leading 44 runs in the second inning, including two runs in this game. Not really much else to say other than what the heck is happening here.

José Berríos had another quality start, finishing with a line of 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K with a home run given up to bring his season ERA to 2.80. It’s not a perfect start by any means, the command wasn’t great, but he got the job done and gave the team a chance to win.

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Chad Green was exactly what this bullpen needed, as he pitched a clean inning and a third, stranding an inherited runner at first to end the seventh inning. His ERA now stands at 1.50.

Yimi García’s ERA also stands at 1.50 after pitching a clean top of the ninth with two strikeouts. If the Jays decide to sell, they’ll get a pretty big haul for the 33-year-old. He’s been lights out this season.

Justin Turner had three hits, including his 1,500 career hit in the big leagues. One was his 11th double of the season, along with two singles. This was a good bounce-back game for the 39-year-old.

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In fact, all three doubles were the players’ 11th double of the season, as Daulton Varsho and Bo Bichette also had a double in this game. Davis Schneider and Alejandro Kirk each had a single, while Isiah Kiner-Falefa had two singles, including the game-winning that would’ve been a double any other time.

Up next: The Blue Jays have a chance to split the series for the second time against the Orioles, as they’ll play the fourth and final game at 1:07 PM ET tomorrow. Lefty Yusei Kikuchi will start the game for the Jays, while Baltimore’s starter is yet to be determined.

As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.