The Toronto Blue Jays entered last night’s contest riding a two-game winning streak, which was a step in the right direction after the recent series of meltdowns that had put some unnecessary losses on the record.

The Jays were sending right-hander Bowden Francis to the mound while the Mariners were countering with Logan Evans, who was making his third big league start of his career.

Rowdy Tellez got things started for Seattle, launching a solo shot over the left field wall on an outside fastball. The 92 MPH heater wasn’t a bad pitch from Francis, it’s more that Tellez just continues to punish his old team in a way that rivals former Jays killers in Brett Gardner or Ryan Mountcastle. The Jays threatened to tie things up in the top of the third on a Bo Bichette double to left field, but Evans got out of the jam by striking out Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Francis found himself in a bit of trouble in the bottom of the fourth inning when Randy Arozarena doubled to left field, scoring Julio Rodriguez from second base. This put Cal Raleigh and Arozarena in scoring position, and a sac fly from Leody Taveras would score Raleigh, who just slid under Alejandro Kirk’s tag at home. The Jays’ hurler would limit the damage to just two runs, getting Miles Mastrobuoni to fly out to centre field to end the threat.

Toronto responded in the top of the fifth inning, with Ernie Clement generating a leadoff walk to start the frame. A Nathan Lukes flyout put one out on the board, and then Myles Straw grounded out to third, which saw Clement thrown out at second, but Straw beat the throw. With Bichette at the plate, the Jays’ shortstop had a favourable 2-1 count before Evans hung a 92 MPH four-seamer right down the middle, which Bichette deposited over the right center field wall for a two-run, 102.3 MPH shot just out of reach of the Mariners outfield.

The Blue Jays would tie the game at 3-3 an inning later, with George Springer and Alejandro Kirk sitting at third and first to start the inning. An Addison Barger groundball brought Springer home while the Mariners tried to turn two, getting Kirk and second but not Barger at first. He would be stranded on the right side of the infield.

The Mariners’ bats would remain stale the rest of the way while the Blue Jays rallied in the top of the eighth to put three more runs on the board. A Springer walk and steal put him on second with zero outs, and a Barger single to right field brought the runner home. Clement singled to move Barger to third while the second baseman then stole second, putting runners in scoring position with two outs. A Myles Straw single brought both runners home, putting the game on ice by a score of 6-3.

At the plate, the Jays were 2 for 7 with RISP and left nine runners on base, collecting ten hits and five walks while striking out ten times. Alejandro Kirk went 4 for 5 on the day while Bichette, Barger, and Straw accounted for all the RBIs. Bichette also had a multi-hit day with two extra-base hits of his own while Springer accounted for two of the runs.

Bowden Francis went 6 2/3 innings and allowed three runs off of six hits, one walk, and five strikeouts. The Tellez home run extends his league-leading stat with 12 homers allowed on the season. Mason Fluharty and Jeff Hoffman came into the game in relief and were dominant down the stretch, allowing zero hits to close out the game. Hoffman finished the outing by striking out Arozarena, Tellez, and Taveras all via the swinging punchout, needing just 17 pitches to do so.

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