In the first playoff game at the Rogers Centre since 2016, The Toronto Blue Jays sent young ace Alek Manoah to the mound against the Mariner’s newly acquired ace, Luis Castillo. Going into the game it appeared that it was going to be a good old pitcher’s duel, but unfortunately, it didn’t work out quite like that. The Seattle offence jumped on Manoah scoring 3 quick runs in the first on a Eugenio Suarez double and a Cal Raleigh 2-run homer, which took the home crowd out of it right away. Manoah would settle down a bit giving up only 1 more run and pitched into the 6th inning but the 3 runs were already more than enough for Seattle. Luis Castillo was absolutely dominant for the M’s, pitching into the 8th, and giving up no runs and 6 hits, all singles, while striking out 5. The Blue Jay offence could only muster 1 extra-base hit all game (a 9th-inning double by Chapman) and went 0-3 with RISP.
GAME 1: SEA 4 TOR 0
WP: Castillo (1-0 0.00) LP: Manoah (0-1 6.35)
Game 2 preview:
The Blue Jays will send Kevin Gausman to the hill (12-10 3.35 in 2022) to help save their season against former Blue Jay Cy young winner Robbie Ray (12-12 3.71 in 2022), but the real key today is the offence. If the Jays really want to extend their season, the offence needs to wake up and hopefully put the pressure on early. The game begins at 4:07 ET.
-Austin Sturge