Bottom of the order, bullpen lead Blue Jays to commanding win over Angels

Things worth mentioning…

• Alek Manoah got the start for the Blue Jays on Saturday and cruised through four innings before running into trouble in the fifth. He got the first out of the inning and then allowed a double to Luis Rengifo. After that, manager John Schneider opted to intentionally walk Shohei Ohtani to set up the possibility of a double play. Manoah had the next batter, Mickey Moniak, on a 1-2 count but couldn’t finish him off and walked him to load the bases. Taylor Ward came up next and Manoah had completely lost his command. His first two pitches were balls and the third drilled Ward in the face. It was a scary scene as blood poured from Ward’s face and he had to be carted off of the field.

• Genesis Cabrera came into the game as Manoah was visibly shaken by what happened with Ward. The lefty got Mike Moustakas to strike out to end the inning and then Matt Thaiss to pop out to escape the jam.
• The Angels had another great chance to score in the top of the sixth inning. Jay Jackson came into the game and got two outs but also allowed a double and a walk. Schneider again opted to intentionally walk Ohtani to load the bases and Trevor Richards came in and struck out Moniak to get the Blue Jays out of the inning unscathed.
• Nate Pearson and Yimi Garcia pitched scoreless frames in the eighth and ninth innings respectively to close out the game. All told, Toronto’s bullpen put up four-and-two-thirds innings of scoreless ball in relief of Manoah.
• Almost all of Toronto’s offence came from the bottom part of the order in this game. Santiago Espinal hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning while Alejandro Kirk hit a solo bomb in the seventh inning and a two-run dinger in the eighth inning to give the Blue Jays some added insurance.

ARTICLE PRESENTED BY BETANO