Even without his best stuff, he pitched just over 6.2 valiant innings, stepping up after the Toronto Blue Jays lost the front end of a doubleheader mostly due to some sloppy fielding, while also keeping their rotation plans intact in those crucial last weeks. . That Manoah was down 2-1 after giving up a solo shot to Jonathan Aranda in the top of the seventh inning was beside the point. He had left more than his team was able to pull off an important victory, which he accomplished with a rally in the bottom of the seventh that was capped by Whit Merrifield’s two-run double and George Springer’s two-run homer. The final result, a 7-2 victory before a packed crowd of 25,103 at Rogers Center, clinched a doubleheader and put the Blue Jays (80-62) a half game behind the Rays (79-62) and Seattle Mariners ( 79-62) at the top of the wild card race. “My job is not to feel good, my job is to go out there and compete,” Manoah said. “No matter what happens, just go out there and give this team a chance. I know they knew I was going through it, so I knew they were going to get me.” Said Springer: “This is the heart. That’s pretty much it.” A Tuesday sweep of Tampa Bay would leave the hosts in a tough spot, with Drew Rasmussen starting Wednesday with Ross Stripling and Shane McClanahan coming off the injured list and starting Thursday with Kevin Gausman. The offense was already struggling, as the Blue Jays had to scratch and force a pair in a 4-2 opener and just tied it 1-1 in the sixth on Alejandro Kirk’s soft dribbler at first base. line to bring home Vladimir Guerrero Jr. But some nice leverage machinations by interim manager John Snyder when the game was tied in the seventh led to leadoff swings for Merrifield, with his biggest moment since being added at the deadline, and Springer, who went deep to first time since August. 28. “Big thrill, it’s a big moment in a big game,” said Merrifield, who is adjusting to life as a utility player off the bench. “I’ve always played every day since I was little until I got here. This is the role I have at the moment. I really haven’t earned much more of a role than what my role was. I’m learning how to work throughout the game, not overdoing it, but when to up the ante. You feel it, I guess, for when you might need it. I try to get myself a good two inch pad to go to the cage, do some swings, run around a little bit, put my feet up. It’s a new process for me and I’m trying it.” Santiago Espinal, hitting for Cavan Biggio, started the rally with a four-pitch walk against lefty Colin Poche, and after a hit by Matt Chapman, Danny Jansen came in for Raimel Tapia and made another base on balls. Merrifield then stepped in for Jackie Bradley Jr. and smashed Poche’s first pitch down the left field line to erase a 2-1 lead. Running three lefties in four batters in the bottom of the Blue Jays’ lineup could have been a vulnerability for the Rays’ exposure. But with Jason Adams likely to be their only available reliever, Snyder found a spot where he could lock up the platoon lead, saving his walks for the seventh after a chance to strike out hitters that first came in the Thursday. “Set it up to give guys a chance against (starter Yonny) Chirinos with lefties,” Schneider said. “We’re patient there, knowing we have really good bench options later in the game with how their bullpen was set up, guys stepped up. Walk, walk, Whit with a massive double … everyone stepped up and did their thing and it was great to see the whole team contributing.” A couple of extra runs in the eighth extended the lead and allowed the Blue Jays to use Zach Pop in the ninth after Jordan Romano recorded the final out of the eighth off Yandy Diaz as the tying run in a 5-2 game. It all started with Manoah, who woke up “feeling awful”, initially thinking he was in a nightmare until he realized “I couldn’t breathe, my chest was tight, everything didn’t feel very good”, he said. After discussing an ER visit, she reluctantly texted Jose Ministral at 2am. – the trainer’s phone is always open for such incidents – he finally fell asleep at about 06:30am. the opener but was eventually pushed back. Julian Merryweather was called upon to start opener Mitch White, who pitched six steady innings The Blue Jays weren’t sure Manoah could shake the nightcap until he woke up again at 2:30 p.m., got to the ballpark, got some IV fluid and then was cleared to play. As it warmed up, “I was worried I might throw up.” No worries there, he didn’t, he was working on a speed bump to hold the Rays to two runs. “The biggest thing is just the offense, just trying to throw as many strikes as possible, let them get outs and let that defense make plays,” Manoah said of pitching without his best. “They had some guys on base in a couple of innings and you had to lock it down and get some big outs. As long as you give that offense a chance and keep it close there, they’re going to come through.” If he were to miss the start, it would be detrimental not only to the Blue Jays’ plans for the day, but for weeks to come. His rotation spot also falls during the upcoming series against Baltimore this weekend, the Rays in St. Petersburg next week, the New York Yankees back at home and the Orioles at Camden Yards in the final series of the season, if needed . Manoah’s covenant made all this mute. “He’s firmly established himself as one of the best pitchers in the league or the game,” Schneider said. “He was struggling today and everyone knows that. Just a great effort from him.” Very much, the type that makes Manoah so unique. Matt Buschmann, the Blue Jays’ pitching coach and director of pitching development, noted that “a lot of what makes Alek special isn’t even physical, it’s him, the mental ability to handle failure, to handle things at a high level and to he is competitive as he is. … They are obviously very comfortable in the spotlight. I don’t know how you teach it. I would love to teach it. But it is the result of his upbringing, the result of every aspect of his life until he became a professional baseball player. If we could recreate that, that would be great. He is a special person for that reason.” On a day when his team needed it most, in a high-stakes series with the finish line closing in, Manoah showed once again why the Blue Jays also found a way to make it count.
