Blue Jays 6 Mariners 3
Baseball is so much more fun when the Jays score.
The top of the eighth inning was a thing of beauty. Tied at three, George Springer starts things off with a walk and then steals second. After an Alejandro Kirk flyout, Addison Barger singled home Springer. Barger hit that at 110.1 mph.
People wondered why Barger was getting playing time when he was hitting .139 a few days ago, but he can hit the ball hard. Now, he has six hits in his last four games. Sometimes it is best to ignore small samples.
Ernie Clement followed with a single and stole second. After Nathan Lukes struck out (not a good at bat for Lukes, Myles Straw singled home two.
We were down 3-0 in the fifth when Bo Bichette hit a two-run opposite-field home run. And we tied things in the sixth. Singles by Springer and Kirk put runners on the corners, and a Barger (107.8 mph) ground out scored the tying run.
We got a nice bounce-back game from Bowden Francis. He went 6.2 innings, giving up 6 hits, 3 earned, 1 walk and 5 strikeouts. Pitching into the seventh really helps the bullpen.
I thought he would finish the seventh, he got two quick outs, but then gave up a single and a pop fly that landed between the infield and outfield. Bad luck on that one, but John Schneider took him out of the game.
Mason Fluharty came in and got J.P. Crawford to strike out. He also pitched a quick eighth, getting two more strikeouts. I should run a poll asking ‘Which Jay has been the most pleasant surprise this season?’. Fluharty has to be at or near the top of the list.
Jeff Hoffman pitched the ninth, getting his ninth save, striking out the side. I was surprised to see him in the game after throwing yesterday, but he made the ninth.
Another nice day for the offense. We had 10 hits. Kirk had four. Bo had two, including the home run. Vlad (with two walks), Varsho, and Lukes (who had a tough day) went 0 for.
Kirk is on a nice run with the bat. He started the month with a .239 BA and is hitting .282 now (much more in line with what I expect from him).
As well as driving in two important runs, Straw had a super catch in left field.
Gasping at Straw
What a catch from Myles Straw! pic.twitter.com/eMkPEyAban
— MLB (@MLB) May 11, 2025
Jays of the Day: Springer (.158 WPA), Bichette (.158), Fluharty (.127), Kirk (.114) and lets give one to Straw (.079) for the two RBI and the catch.
The Other Award: Lukes (-.158) and Varsho (-.110).
Tomorrow we have game three of this series. José Ureña gets the start with the Jays trying for the sweep. Bryce Miller (2-3, 4.15) starts for the Mariners.
A win tomorrow would get us back to .500.