Toronto SP Yariel Rodriguez has been superb over his last two starts, only allowing one earned run in 12.2 pitched and helping the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Seattle Mariners 5-4.
Rodriguez went 6.0 innings, allowing a single hit and striking out six batters. The Cuban-born pitcher had some help in the outfield from Daulton Varsho.
With two runners on base in the fourth, Varsho dived to catch a ball off the bat of Julio Rodriguez that would have scored at least one run. The play arguably was the difference in the game, helping Toronto hold on to their lead.
Alejandro Kirk got the first two runs off the board, blasting a ball off the outfield wall at T-Mobile Park to plate the first run of the ball. Kirk also drove in another run off a sacrifice fly, putting Toronto up by four in the seventh.
Over his last 26 plate appearances, Kirk is now hitting .308 and will likely see more playing time as Danny Jansen continues to be cold with the bat.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the starting first baseman in the 2024 All-Star game, showed people again why he was chosen to be a starter, collecting two more hits and driving in two runs, one in the fifth and another in the eighth.
Toronto’s additional run in the eighth came from an error from Mariners, shortstop J.P Crawford missing a slow roller to allow Bo Bichette to score.
After getting no-hit for nearly 6.0 innings last night, Toronto’s lineup had 11 hits and four walks, as everyone who started, except Danny Jansen, reached base in some way.
Two of Toronto’s runs came off Mariners SP Emerson Hancock, who made his first start in over two weeks for the team. Hancock was demoted by the Mariners to Triple-A after struggling in 2024 with a 4.79 ERA. After throwing 9.1 scoreless innings in the minor leagues, Hancock was promoted back to the MLB roster.
In 4.0 innings today, the RHP allowed two earned runs on six hits and will likely be optioned again once Mariners SP Bryan Woo comes back from the injured list.
A 5-0 lead seemed like a surefire win for Toronto, but their recent bullpen struggles were once again an issue in today’s game.
Toronto bullpen currently ranks 29th in MLB for relievers ERA (4.86), 30th in home runs allowed (54), and 28th in strikeouts (270).
Seattle, in the eighth and ninth innings, scored four runs off Toronto’s bullpen, all coming from home runs by Mitch Haniger in the eighth and Luke Raley in the ninth.
Trevor Richards gave up three of those runs, allowing now four earned runs in his last 2.2 innings of work. Toronto needs Yimi Garcia and Jordan Romano to come back sooner rather than later, or games where their starters can’t go deep will start to become blowouts.
The Blue Jays did lose some depth in the system today, though, as LHP Tim Mayza cleared waivers today and elected free agency today. It’s unlikely that Mayza will take a minor league option, considering he likely didn’t want to work out his struggles in Triple-A and will look for a fresh start elsewhere.
Toronto is now nine games under .500 and hopes to win their first series since June 16th, when they took two out of three against the Cleveland Guardians.
Meanwhile, the Seattle Mariners have lost four of five, as their lead in the American League West remains at 2.5 games over the Houston Astros.
