The Blue Jays lose another heartbreaker in Seattle

Things worth mentioning…

• Kevin Gausman made his first start since before the All-Star break and ran into some trouble with the long ball. Toronto’s ace allowed four earned runs on five hits and zero walks over six innings of work while striking out nine. All four of Seattle’s runs off of Gausman were solo home runs.
• The Blue Jays have notoriously done a terrible job at scoring runs for Gausman but that wasn’t the case today. Home runs from Kevin Kiermaier, Brandon Belt, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. gave the Blue Jays a 5-3 lead in the fifth inning. After Seattle tied the game with their fourth solo homer in the bottom of the fifth, Daulton Varsho and Alejandro Kirk drove in runs in the top of the seventh inning to put Gausman in line for a win.
• The bullpen wasn’t able to protect the lead. Nate Pearson came into the game for the seventh inning and was tagged for four earned runs while recording just one out. Yimi Garcia came in and finished off the inning but allowed an earned run of his own when Teoscar Hernandez hit a two-out double to give Seattle a 9-7 lead. Pearson’s ERA ballooned to 4.75 after that showing.
• Matt Chapman, Alejandro Kirk, and Cavan Biggio hit singles in the top of the ninth inning to make the score 9-8 but George Springer grounded out to end the game.
• The Blue Jays will send Alek Manoah to the mound on Sunday against rookie Bryan Woo as they look to avoid being swept in Seattle for the second consecutive season. The last game the Blue Jays won a game in Seattle was back in August of 2021 and Steven Matz was the winning pitcher.

ARTICLE PRESENTED BY BETANO