TORONTO — The pitchers’ duel was as good as advertised — maybe better.
Though he didn’t start the day with his sharpest stuff, Alek Manoah was at his best against the Angels, striking out seven while allowing just four hits. Opposite Manoah, Shohei Ohtani was electric, touching 100 m.p.h. while mixing in his hard slider and disappearing splitter on his way to nine strikeouts of his own. And it was perhaps appropriate that on an afternoon the Blue Jays honoured the 1992 World Series Champions, both starters completed seven innings, throwback style.
“Every game is Game 7 of the World Series for me,” Manoah said afterwards. “It doesn’t matter if Ohtani’s on the mound over there or Roger Clemens. It doesn’t matter. My job is to compete, give the team my all and do everything I can to try and get us a win.”
Ultimately, Ohtani proved too much for the Blue Jays this time, as a Luis Rengifo RBI single was the game winner and the home team lost 2-0 in front of a sellout crowd of 45,311. But where the Blue Jays faltered in all phases of the game Friday, it’s hard to find much fault with their effort Saturday. They just happened to face one of the game’s best pitchers on a day his stuff was as good as it gets.
“I enjoyed it,” Ohtani told reporters afterwards. “I would like to avoid it if possible because (Manoah's) a great pitcher. Less chance of getting good results at the plate. But I did enjoy going pitch for pitch with him.”
Ohtani lowered his season ERA to 2.67 with the outing — and remember, he has 27 home runs, too.
“He was on today,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider, who was ejected for arguing balls and strikes in the eighth. “He dialled in and did his thing. It’s four or five pitches. It’s 100 m.p.h. It’s nasty stuff. You’ve got to tip your cap to him.”
“Everything that he does is just amazing to me to watch,” longtime Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston said before Saturday’s ceremony. “He’s a Babe Ruth in a lot of ways. He’s a great looking player. I just don’t know how he’s going to do that for the rest of his career, but we’ll see what happens.”
On the mound, at least, Manoah’s right there with Ohtani, who walked, struck out and grounded into a fielder’s choice in three trips to the plate against his counterpart. As impressive as Ohtani has been, Manoah’s 2.60 ERA is lower and he’s pitched 27.2 more innings. Still, both belong in the American League Cy Young conversation along with the likes of Justin Verlander, Shane McClanahan and Dylan Cease.
Manoah began the day with diminished velocity, but his fastball picked up speed as the afternoon progressed and he ended up topping out at 96.2 m.p.h. His average fastball was 92.9 m.p.h., down from his season average of 94 m.p.h., but it didn't stop him from holding the Angels to one run.
“He started slow; his tempo was off,” Schneider said. “But then he dialled it in and it was an old-fashioned pitching duel. They went toe to toe there for seven and he got stronger as he went on. What allows him to win is his desire to win and his competitive nature.”
Even once Ohtani gave way to the bullpen, the Blue Jays couldn’t generate the offence they needed and fell to 68-57 on the season. But despite the team’s up and down season, some of the Blue Jays’ franchise greats believe the 2022 team has the potential to go on a memorable October run of their own.
“Last year they learned that one game makes a difference,” Joe Carter said. “They’re going to work to be sure that doesn’t happen again”
“They’re playing great,” added Gaston, who still watches regularly. “They’ve got a great chance to go right to the World Series. They’ve got a good team out there. They seem to have a lot of fun playing with each other. They seem to have each other’s back. And it’s fun to watch them. It’s really fun.”
Meanwhile, Teoscar Hernandez was on the bench Saturday after fouling a ball off his left foot for the second time in a week. The discomfort forced him out of Friday’s game early, but he was available off the bench if needed on Saturday.
Should Hernandez need to ease his way back into the lineup, that’s an option the Blue Jays have now that George Springer has returned to the outfield for the first time since July 28. With their centre fielder back, the Blue Jays can now rotate others through the designated hitter spot to get them partial days off.
“He’s also at the point where he understands it’s time for other guys to get off their feet a bit, too,” Schneider said of Springer.
In time, that flexibility will surely help the Blue Jays, yet on Saturday it wasn’t enough. They got the pitchers’ duel they were expecting and enjoyed a celebration 30 years in the making. But a loss to one of the game’s current greats means the Blue Jays will be trying to stave off a sweep when the series concludes Sunday.
