Isiah Kiner-Falefa has been a productive hitter for the Toronto Blue Jays this year, and that’s a statement no one thought would be said.
Kiner-Falefa’s career numbers look meager, with a .663 OPS and 82 OPS+. However, the utility player has come in clutch for the Jays numerous times this season and did it once again tonight.
Kiner-Falefa hit a walk-off single to give the Blue Jays a 3-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles and their first win of the series.
The winning run was on base before, thanks to a Justin Turner single. Turner had three hits in the game, including a double in the second to plate Toronto’s first run.
Cavan Biggio came into pinch-run and got to 2nd base after Orioles closer Craig Kimbrel threw the ball wide of first-baseman Ryan Mountcastle, giving the Jays an extra 90 feet.
This all happened as the game was in a dead 2-2 tie for awhile. Baltimore answered first in the game once again in the 2nd inning, as Anthony Santander hit a solo homer. His second home run in three games. Ramón Urías would give Baltimore a 2-0 lead on a double, extending his hitting streak to five games.
Luckily for Toronto, they answered back quickly in the bottom of the second. Toronto came into the game scoring 42 runs in the 2nd inning this season, the highest average for MLB teams in that inning.
Turner got Toronto on the board, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit a single to score Turner, quickly tying the game at 2.
With Toronto using six different relievers yesterday, José Berríos was needed to go deep into the game in order for the Jays to have a chance a winnings.
Berríos stepped up, pitching 6 innings, giving up two earned runs and six hits. Berrío, in 16 starts against Baltimore, has an ERA of 2.95.
On the other side of the mound, Albert Suárez gave up two earned runs in 5 innings pitched, his second straight start of going 5 innings. With Suárez’s short success as a starter, Baltimore has a little more starting pitching depth after both SPs John Means and Tyler Wells had season-ending surgeries.
Toronto has now had two walk-offs in the past week and looks to split a series against the third-best team in the American League (39-21).
Baltimore has not lost or tied its last four series before facing Toronto, going 9-2 over that span, including beating division rivals Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox collectively in both series.
In the series finale tomorrow, Toronto will send SP Yusei Kikuchi (2-5, 3.66), while the Orioles turn to SP Cade Povich on the mound to make his Major League Baseball debut. Povich was acquired in the Jorge Lopez trade and has a 3.18 ERA in Triple-A this season.
