Mariners 1 Blue Jays 3
The stat of the day has to be Addison Barger’s three outfield assists. Apparently, it is the first time a Jay has done that since Rick Bosetti in 1978. Baseball Almanac tells me that the MLB record is four in a game.
- In the fourth inning, Addison threw Cal Raleigh out at second, on a play that I thought Raleigh would be into second easily.
- Also in the fourth, Addison threw Randy Arozarena out trying to go first to third on a Luis Raley single.
- In the fifth, Adison threw Rowdy Tellez out, trying to tag up from second to third on a fly to right field.
Add in that Alejandro Kirk threw out Julio Rodríguez trying to steal second base (call on the field was overturned on a challenge), and it was a great day for the Jays’ defence.
Bowden Francis had a great day: 6 innings, 5 hits, 1 earned (a Rowdy Tellez home run), 1 walk and 5 strikeouts. He was in command all day. He came out at 77 pitches (52 strikes), so he might have been able to go deeper into the game, but then the pen has been very good.
- Mason Fluharty got the first two outs of the seventh, giving up a walk.
- Chad Green got the last out of the seventh. I thought he might get the eighth but
- Yimi Garcia threw a quick eighth.
- Jeff Hoffman picked up his fifth save, getting two strikeouts in the ninth.
Offensively, we did just enough. We scored:
- One in the first: Bo singled and stole second. Vlad ground out to first base, moving up Bo, and Anthony Santander hit a sac fly to left.
- One in the second: Springer started it off with a single. An out later Kirk walked. Will Wagner singled to load the bases. And Alan Roden hit a sac fly to left.
- One in the fourth: Springer doubled to lead off the inning. Barger lined out to left, and Springer tagged up. It looked like the Jays didn’t think much of Randy Arozarena’s arm. And Kirk singled George home.
We had seven hits, but only one extra base hit, Springer’s double. Springer and Wagner had two each. Kirk, Santander and Bichette had the others.
Vlad was 0 for 3 with a walk. He hit the ball hard, with a 120.4 and a 112.7 mph groundout. A little elevation might have helped.
Jays of the Day: Francis (.227 WPA). Let’s give honourable mention to Barger, Kirk (.080, plus the caught stealing), Wagner (.076), Garcia (.071) and Hoffman (.070).
No one gets the Other Award; Barger had the low mark, but then he had three assists.
Tomorrow we have a 3:00 Eastern start. Logan Gilbert (1-1, 2.38) vs. José Berríos (1-1. 5.16).