Category: Sports News

Lazaro Montes hit the longest home run ever recorded at T-Mobile Park, and the Mariners continued to pitch like the worst staff in the majors.

The Mariners took their latest bludgeoning on Tuesday with a 10-5 loss to the Rangers. Bryce Miller got the start and was bad and brief, and the bullpen folded behind him. The Mariners are last in the majors by just about every pitching category since the All-Star break, and there’s no sign it will let up any time soon.

The bad pitching made Tuesday’s game long, boring, miserable, and predictable, except for one play:

Lazaro Montes got a middle-middle fastball from Cal Quantrill in the fourth inning and hit it a very long way. It was the longest home run hit at T-Mobile Park in the Statcast Era. I can tell you the metrics — 116.1 mph, 24 degrees, 474 feet — but you really have to witness it yourself.

I’ve never seen a batter hit one on the concourse in center field. Most of the very impressive homers that get hit in Seattle are going to the Hit-It-Here Cafe, or the bleachers in left. The homers that land in the space between left-center and right-center tend to have impressive metrics, but rarely have the same visual effect, since most batters are physically limited to the first few rows.

That’s what I thought would be the case when Montes flipped his bat and implied a homer. I’m aware of his infinite power, and I didn’t doubt it would impress. But when the camera turned to center and started to zoom, I thought “wow, this might get halfway up,” which alone would have deserved a good amount of space in this recap. Instead, it just kept going and going and going, so far up into the stands that I couldn’t tell where it landed on the first few replays. When I eventually realized what he’d done, I just… I don’t know — I really don’t know what I’ve witnessed.

The only thing that comes to mind is this Carlos Peguero homer from 2013, which might have gone further, but landed somewhere out of frame limiting the effect.

Montes’ blast was most of the Mariners offense on Tuesday. They scratched across nine hits and a walk, and picked up a couple more runs in garbage time. But five runs just isn’t enough when the pitching staff gives up 10.

Miller made his second start after being moved to the bullpen in late August. He never actually got an appearance as a reliever because Emerson Hancock landed on the injured list shortly after the decision, allowing Miller to slot back into the rotation. In his first start last week, Miller was pulled in the middle of the fifth inning after just 63 pitches, implying the org still sees him in something of a hybrid role going forward.

It’s hard to say what the plan was meant to be on Tuesday. Miller threw 84 pitches — close to a starter’s workload — but only made it through 3 2/3 innings before getting the hook. Whether this was a true start or a cold open or some pork-themed invention, Miller didn’t execute. He picked up six strikeouts and 10 whiffs, but gave up three walks and four hits, and often seemed to spin his wheels, unable to put batters away with any sort of efficiency. He eventually handed the ball to the bullpen with the bases loaded in the middle of the fourth inning.

“It’s frustrating,” Miller said after the game. “Too many long at-bats. It felt like everything was five to nine pitches… Overall, I gotta do a better job with having quicker innings, quicker at-bats, and not having to burn the bullpen.”

Any hope for Miller in this one died pretty quickly. In the first inning, he threw a first-pitch, middle-middle fastball to Corey Seager, who mashed it 418 feet to right. (This felt like a very long home run at the time).

Miller entered the fourth down just 2-0, but was already at 63 pitches. After loading the bases with two singles and a walk, Dan Wilson went to José Ferrer to try to escape the inning. Ferrer gave up a hard grounder that went right through Cole Young at second base to make it 4-0.

That kind of felt like the game. Sure, Montes’ homer brought the Mariners back within one in the bottom of the frame. But they still had five innings left to cover with a bad and overworked bullpen. I feel like I’ve written some version of this in every recap I’ve done the last few months. This was the dynamic that led to 22-0 and 19-2 losses in Miller starts last month, for instance. Had the Mariners not had an off day Monday, that might have been the case again. Instead, the bullpen was rested and everyone was available for a normal-bad pitching performance. Eduard Bazardo got shelled in the fifth, giving up five runs on a pair of homers. Cooper Criswell gave up another run in the seventh. Carlos Vargas, Mickael Rucker, and Hoby Milner each managed clean innings.

The Mariners needed seven pitchers to throw 193 pitches to scratch and claw and fight their way to only allow 10 runs in this one. Kade Anderson gets the ball tomorrow, and since he’s also on a fairly strict pitch count, this could be the start of another very long week.

The cliché is to compare Major League Baseball’s regular season to a marathon.

On Tuesday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts used the mile as his analogy instead.

“The third leg is the hardest leg,” Roberts explained, drawing a comparison to the four laps run in mile-long 1600-meter races. “I think it’s just kind of like that.”

Indeed, the Dodgers came flying out of the gates at the start of this year, reaching Independence Day with five more wins than any other team in the majors.

But then, in a repeat of last season, came an early second-half slide, with the club going 23-26 over its subsequent 49 games.

The third lap was taking its toll –– especially for an aging roster coming off back-to-back World Series marches.

“You can layer in the fact that we’ve had a lot of seasons together, and played a lot of baseball,” Roberts said.

“They call them the dog days for a reason,” newly acquired pitcher Tarik Skubal added.

This week, however, has brought another familiar turn in the Dodgers’ pursuit of a third-straight title.

Also like last season, they have begun a return to form just as October has appeared on the horizon, matching a season-long win streak on Tuesday by collecting their sixth victory in a row with a 3-2 defeat of the Cincinnati Reds.

“You get that second wind in September,” Roberts said.

“Everyone’s kind of turning up the intensity a little bit,” Skubal echoed.

It was at almost this exact point last season when the Dodgers made a similar shift following a late-summer slump. On Sept. 6, they were walked off for a second-straight night by the Baltimore Orioles. They were in a dogfight in the NL West after a 22-32 slump.

From there, though, they closed the regular season on a 15-5 tear, locked up the NL West crown in the final week of the regular season, and proceeded to win nine of their first 10 playoff games en route to a second-consecutive title.

This year, the turnaround has begun a few days earlier. And this time, another strong finish should put the club in an even better playoff spot.

With Tuesday’s win, the Dodgers’ magic number to clinch the NL West is already down to seven. More importantly, they are now 2 ½ games up on the Atlanta Braves for the National League’s No. 2 playoff seed –– which would not only come with a bye, but perhaps put the Dodgers on the easier side of the NL postseason bracket (as things stand, the No. 2 seed is likely to face either the Braves, Dbacks or Padres in the Division Series, while the currently top-seeded Brewers would likely be in line for a more daunting matchup with either the Phillies and Cubs).

“We realized [the magic number] was 7 because they put it on the scoreboard,” Teoscar Hernández joked afterward. “But we’re not thinking about October right now. We’re thinking about just playing the game, win games and just be ready for it.”

Just as important as playoff positioning, after all, is the way the team has been playing to right the ship this week.

It starts, fittingly, with starting pitching, where the Dodgers on Tuesday watched Skubal deliver his most efficient outing with the team.

For his first since arriving in Los Angeles, and his second time all season, the two-time Cy Young Award winner worked into the eighth inning in a 94-pitch effort, allowing just two runs (both on a monstrous 444-foot Elly De La Cruz homer in the third) over 7 ⅓ frames to lower his ERA in seven Dodgers starts to 2.93.

The lineup, meanwhile, has made such production on the mound count –– thanks to renewed production at the plate from several important veteran bats.

Will Smith opened the scoring on Tuesday with his first home run since coming off the injured list. Then Hernández continued his blistering return to form with three hits and a walk, including a triple that nearly went for an inside-the-park home run (he was thrown out at home on a whopping 105 mph relay throw by De La Cruz at shortstop) and a tie-breaking RBI single in the fifth. He is now 16-for-32 over his last nine games.

“This just changes the dynamic of our lineup,” Roberts said of Hernández. “Especially when there’s still some guys that aren’t swinging the bat well.”

That includes Shohei Ohtani, was back out of the lineup on Tuesday while being load-managed.

And yet, the Dodgers didn’t break their stride, or lose any momentum in a stretch run that has seen them steadily gain steam.

“The fourth leg is the easiest,” Roberts said, referring back to his mile metaphor, “because you see the finish line.”

Three of the Mets’ new prospects were in the middle of things for their respective clubs again on Tuesday night. 

Both Billy Amick and Emilien Pitre enjoyed strong showings for Syracuse. 

Amick was on-base two times facing his old teammates with the St. Paul Saints, leading off the second with a single, then crushing a solo shot to deep left-center in the top of the fourth. 

The slugger was retired each of his next two times up, but is now up to 36 homers total on the minor league season, six of which have come up at the Triple-A level. 

Pitre enjoyed a strong night, reached three times of his own. 

He drove in the opening run of the game with a single in the first, drove in another in the third, then drew an eight-pitch walk with nobody out in the fifth. 

The 23-year-old seems to be finding his groove following his promotion to Syracuse, now hitting .283 with a .367 OBP and .782 OPS through 15 games at the new level. 

Meanwhile down in Double-A, Jefferson Rojas had a rare quiet night at the plate, but he was able to reach another milestone for the season. 

With his stolen base in the bottom of the fifth, Rojas officially joined the 20-20-20 club. 

While he hasn’t been showcasing his speed too much since joining Binghamton, the 21-year-old is now up to 20 stolen bases, 24 homers, and 25 doubles on the Double-A season.

Rojas has a few more days to add to those numbers, as the Rumble Ponies wrap up their season this weekend. 

The Texas Rangers scored ten runs while the Seattle Mariners scored five runs.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, after the Rangers had scratched and clawed their way to a 4-0 lead, the Mariners scored three runs on one hellacious swing as rookie Lazaro Montes feasted on a middle-middle fastball and unloaded for one of the loudest, most impressive home runs you’ll ever see.

It’s the kind of home run that will be in highlight packages and make headlines on every baseball website. The kind of dong you’d see Nomar Mazara run into out of nowhere every now and then.

Anyway, Cal Quantrill allowed three runs over six innings and the Rangers won by five runs. But hey, all the M’s fans who would later spend the rest of the night booing the home team before vacating T-Mobile many innings early can say they were there for the famous Montes dinger!

With the victory, the Rangers are within a game of .500 again as they kept pace with the other AL playoff hopefuls.

Player of the Game: There is plenty to choose from tonight. Quantrill, unfazed by the Montes dong, ended up with another quality start. Nicky Lopez had three hits in three at-bats. Wyatt Langford hit a big two-run home run to help quell Seattle’s potential rally. Robert Garcia returned and pitched a scoreless, hitless inning of relief with a strikeout.

Justin Foscue smacked a pinch hit, two-out RBI single with the bases loaded in the top of the fourth when the game was still in doubt and it seemed like the Rangers might waste their thousandth bases loaded opportunity this season. Corey Seager homered in the first inning to kick off the scoring and also made one of the craziest throws from shortstop that I’ve ever seen.

But in a season where the bottom of the lineup has felt like a black hole at times, tonight No. 9 hitter Danny Jansen contributed with a three-run home run that turned the game into a blowout and followed that up with an RBI single to lead the way with four RBIs.

Up Next: The Rangers and Mariners are back at it tomorrow with LHP Cody Bradford expected to make the start for Texas opposite LHP Kade Anderson for Seattle.

A rare midweek, mid-series afternoon first pitch from T-Mobile Park is scheduled for 3:10 pm CDT and will be telecast via the Rangers Sports Network.

Mariners Pitchers 2023-2024: Lazaro Montes, +0.20
Mariners Pitchers The Other Five Years This Decade: Eduard Bazardo -0.31 WPA, Bryce Miller -0.12 WPA, José Ferrer -0.12

Game Thread Comment(s) of the Day

Even Dodgers catcher Will Smith, who’d never be accused of wearing his emotions on his sleeve, was a little worried during his monthslong absence because of a persistent neck injury that he might not be healthy by the end of the season.

“‘It was kind of the ‘who knows how long it’s going to take,’” Smith said when the Dodgers activated him at the beginning of the month. “But at some point I was going to be fed up and just kind of deal with it.”

It apparently didn’t come to that. And in the Dodgers’ 3-2 win against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday, Smith’s fifth time in the lineup since returning from the injured list, he put the Dodgers ahead with a first-inning home run and guided Dodgers left-handed starter Tarik Skubal through 7 ⅓ innings of two-run ball.

“He called a great game,” Skubal said of his Team USA teammate. “And the targets that he sets up, and the way that he goes about it, he gives me a ton of confidence back there.”

A neck problem that was initially expected to resolve on its own in a few days turned into a nearly three-month IL stint. With the revolving door behind the plate in Smith’s absence, getting him back down the stretch and into the postseason was going to be key.

While Smith was on the IL, backup catcher Dalton Rushing was thrown into the starting role, learning how to balance the defensive responsibility of serving as the main backstop at the major-league level with a desire to also contribute offensively.

It's nice to have you back, Will. pic.twitter.com/AZgPMTHgsG

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 9, 2026

Rushing seemed to be getting the hang of it, with Chuckie Robinson and then Eliézer Alfonzo behind him, before he hurt his right elbow right before the trade deadline. The Dodgers traded for an entirely new catching duo, Hunter Feduccia and Ben Rortvedt, who held down the position until Smith’s return.

“It was frustrating early,” Smith said. “Just looking for answers why it was taking longer, but we finally got those answers. And then it was kind of a pretty straightforward process from there. So last month or two hasn’t been too bad.”

Smith and the Dodgers sought multiple doctors’ opinions. He was eventually diagnosed with an annular tear and given two possible recovery timelines. Though they proceeded with hope for the earlier return, the longer one came to fruition.

Now, the Dodgers are carrying three catchers, trying not to overwork Smith in his first weeks back. He’ll be out of the lineup Wednesday and play two of three games in Miami, manager Dave Roberts said.

With Rushing back on the IL for the same elbow injury, Feduccia can also serve as a left-handed bat off the bench, and Alfonzo gives the team more substitution flexibility.

Read more:Shohei Ohtani out of the Dodgers lineup, available to pinch-hit

Entering Tuesday, Smith had already thrown out three baserunners attempting to steal in his first week back in action. But despite some hard contact, hits weren’t falling for him. He went two for 17 with a single and a double in the same time period.

“Will is just very consistent, dependable,” Roberts said. “I know he’s taking really good at-bats. Hitting some balls to the warning track.”

On Tuesday, batting third in the lineup against Reds left-handed starting pitcher Nick Lodolo, he showcased the kind of influence he can make on both sides of the ball.

In Smith’s first at-bat, he battled for nine pitches, finally lifting a changeup over the left field wall.

“That was really good to see,” Roberts said. “With Will, it’s just great having him in there because you know you can count on the at-bat quality, and obviously having him behind the plate has been good.”

The next inning the Dodgers (88-57) doubled their score when Tommy Edman — hitting in the leadoff spot in place of Shohei Ohtani (right biceps and left knee), who was out of the lineup Tuesday as the Dodgers ease him back from a four-day absence over the weekend — was hit in the leg by a pitch with the bases loaded.

The Reds then tied the score in the third, as Elly De La Cruz launched a two-run homer off Skubal. But the Dodgers pulled ahead again two innings later, courtesy of the red-hot bat Teoscar Hernández has been swinging in September.

Hernández avenged his ill-fated inside-the-park home run attempt — he was thrown out at the plate on an aggressive send two innings earlier — with a well-struck RBI single.

Skubal wrapped up his deepest start of his Dodgers tenure to a standing ovation. He’d limited the Reds to just four hits, while recording five strikeouts in an efficient performance.

Flame-throwing reliever Edgardo Henriquez replaced Skubal, tasked with recording the last two outs of the eighth. He did so with the help of an ABS challenge from Smith that secured an inning-ending strikeout.

Lefty Tanner Scott earned the save, retiring three straight batters after a leadoff walk, and the Dodgers extended their winning streak to six games.

“It’s the last stretch,” Smith said at the beginning of the month. “We’re fighting for seeding as well. So yeah, it’s definitely time to step on the gas.”

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Mets’ offense is rolling down the stretch. 

They’ve been on an outstanding run over the past week or so, and much of that success has come early and often against opponents starting pitching. 

Tuesday night, it was Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara’s turn. 

Alcantara shut the Mets down across six stellar innings the last time these two teams matched up in Queens, but it was a completely different story this time around. 

Francisco Lindor took the very first pitch he saw 405 feet to deep center for a leadoff homer.

“That’s a fun way to start a baseball game,” Andy Green said. “It just let’s everyone on the other team know that we’re coming for ya, and he set that tone out of the gate.”

The Mets tacked on another run on a Jared Young single later in the inning. 

Juan Soto then continued the early-barrage in the top of the second, demolishing his third career homer off Alcantara, this one being 417 foot three-run shot to dead-central.

And New York wasn’t done there, as Brett Baty stayed red-hot at the plate as well, one-upping Soto with a 426 foot solo blast of his own to dead-center. 

Alcantara tied his season-low with just 4.1 innings pitched, as he was chased from the ballgame after allowing seven runs on as many hits while issuing four free passes.

“I love the way we’re jumping on starting pitchers,” Green emphasized.

“We’ve had really good at-bats against great pitching and we’ve put pressure on the other team not waiting for them to throw the first punch, we’ve gone out there and thrown it -- we threw a lot of them again today.”

The Mets have now scored seven or more runs in four of their five victories so far this month. 

While they did go down quietly the rest of the way against the Marlins' bullpen, their own relievers did an even better job of keeping the lead afloat to secure the series victory. 

New York will to continue rolling against Janson Junk as they go for the sweep on Wednesday.   

LOS ANGELES — Tarik Skubal pitched his longest start since joining the Dodgers, and Teoscar Hernández continued his excellent homestand in a 3-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds.

The Dodgers’ six-game win streak matches their longest of the season, matching May 23-29 and August 17-23.

Skubal, who was flipped with Yoshinobu Yamamoto to pitch Tuesday instead of Wednesday, didn’t allow a hit his first time through the order, but then in the third inning surrendered a two-out single to leadoff man Dane Myers and a mammoth home run by Elly De La Cruz into the back part of the left field pavilion, tying things up.

Those were the only two runs Skubal permitted on Tuesday.

“He should be at 75 pitches through six innings, that’s when he’s really good, 80 pitches, something like that,” manager Dave Roberts said before the game. “When he’s efficient, that’s when we know we’ve got Tarik back, with the strikeouts on top of that.”

Skubal wasn’t quite that dominant, with five strikeouts, but he did need only 84 pitches to get through six innings, which was enough to get him into the seventh, and he retired all three Reds he faced on just eight more pitches. He faced one more batter in the eighth inning, retiring left-hander Héctor Rodriguez before leaving to a nice ovation.

Skubal pitched 7 1/3 innings on only 94 pitches, the first time he pitched into the eighth inning on four days rest since tossing a shutout on May 25, 2025 against Cleveland.

Edgardo Henriquez, who recorded a save on Sunday, was first out of the bullpen Tuesday against the top of the Reds batting order. Though he allowed a double to De La Cruz, Henriquez struck out Sal Stewart looking to strand the tying run in scoring position.

Tanner Scott walked Tanner Stephenson to open the ninth, but then struck out the next two and got a groundout to finish the save.

The Dodgers threatened in each of the first six innings, and scored single runs in three of those frames against Reds starter Nick Lodolo

Will Smith won a nine-pitch battle with Lodolo in the first inning for his first home run since returning from the injured list exactly one week ago.

It was just the second time the Dodgers scored in the first inning during this six-game winning streak (also, two runs on Saturday).

Tommy Edman was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the second inning for the Dodgers’ second run, marking the second time this homestand that a Dodger was hit by a pitch to knock in a run, joining Alex Call on Saturday against the Washington Nationals.

That’s Edman’s 12th time getting hit by a pitch this season, the most by any Dodger since 2023, when Freddie Freeman (16), Smith (15), and James Outman (12) were all plunked at least a dozen times. It’s even more remarkable considering Edman’s first HBP this season came on July 4.

With two outs in the third inning, Teoscar Hernández had a hit fall in front of and bounce past Myers in center field, which led to an exciting romp around the bases. While the Reds scrambled to retrieve the ball at on the warning track, Hernández tried for an inside-the-park home run but was thrown out by several feet, thanks in part to a ridiculously fast relay throw home by De La Cruz.

Hernández settled for a triple there, but in the fifth inning his two-out single scored Mookie Betts to give the Dodgers another lead. Hernández also singled in the eighth, part of a three-hit night plus a walk to extend his hit streak to nine games, during which he has 16 hits in 32 at-bats (.500).

Tuesday particulars

Home runs: Will Smith (7); Elly De La Cruz (25)

WP — Tarik Skubal (9-7): 7 1/3 IP, 4 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts

LP — Nick Lodolo (3-4): 4 2/3 IP, 5 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts

Sv — Tanner Scott (22): 1 IP, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts

Up next

The Dodgers close out their nine-game homestand on Wednesday night (7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA), with Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound, and right-hander Rhett Lowder starting for Cincinnati.

MIAMI — Devin Williams’ confidence that he will pitch again for the Mets this season remains high.

To that end, the reliever threw a bullpen session Tuesday, his first since he was placed on the injured list Aug. 10 with a right shoulder strain.

“It’s all moving in the right direction,” Williams told The Post before the Mets beat the Marlins 7-5 at loanDepot park. “I think we’re in a good spot.”

Williams’ stated goal since he was placed on the IL was to return this season.

“I don’t think as an organization we’re going to carry any doubt [about him physically] if he doesn’t pitch before the year is over,” interim manager Andy Green said. “It’s something he wants and we want if he’s healthy, but it’s not something we would push to if we felt like we’re putting him in jeopardy for next year.”

Williams has pitched to a 4.66 ERA in 42 appearances this season. He arrived last winter on a three-year contract worth $51 million. Kodai Senga has moved into the closer’s role with Williams sidelined and has thrived.

“It’s all about getting built back up now,” Williams said.

Nolan McLean, Zac Thornton and Christian Scott are aligned to face the Yankees in the Subway Series beginning Friday in The Bronx.

Robert Stock is returning to the rotation to pitch Wednesday’s series finale against the Marlins. The right-hander last started Aug. 31 when he pitched 5 ¹/₃ scoreless innings at Tampa Bay. Overall, he’s pitched to a 5.81 ERA in seven appearances for the Mets since returning from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery.

“He’s had some amazing outings and he’s had some tough ones,” Green said. “The amazing outings are a lot of fun, where he has pitched deep into games and handled tough offenses.”

“When he’s in the strike zone his stuff really plays, so I think we’re looking at him in potential roles. Thinking of 2027, I think we’ll see him out of the pen a little bit more this year as well, and we’ll continue to try to figure out what kind of Swiss Army knife he could be for us, because that is valuable to have — somebody who can bounce back and forth from those roles.”

The Mets began play 19-12 since the trade deadline — tied for the second-best record in the major leagues over that stretch. Only the Phillies, who began the day 21-10 since Aug. 3, were better. The Mets’ 3.01 ERA over that stretch was third in MLB since the trade deadline.

The Athletics faced the Toronto Blue Jays in the second game of their three-game series. The Green and Gold mustered only a pair of solo home runs against Blue Jays starter José Soriano, whose gem carried the visitors to a series-evening 4-2 victory.

A’s Waste Early Scoring Chance

A’s center fielder Henry Bolte led off the bottom of the first inning with an infield single, making it six straight at-bats reaching base. Zack Gelof walked to give the hosts two runners on with one out. The A’s failed to capitalize on that early scoring opportunity, as Soriano retired the next two hitters.

Blue Jays Strike First

After turning in a scoreless first inning, A’s starter Jack Perkins did not fare as well in the second inning. Blue Jays left fielder Josh Smith led off the frame with his sixth home run of the season, a solo shot to right field. The next batter, third baseman Kazuma Okamoto, made it back-t0-back home runs with his 30th long ball of his rookie season.

Those two consecutive home runs bring the A’s pitching staff total to 217 home runs allowed, second-most in MLB.

In the top of the third, Athletics shortstop Alika Williams and center fielder Henry Bolte made nice defensive plays to help Perkins bounce back with a scoreless inning. Meanwhile, the A’s offense could not figure out Soriano, who completed three scoreless innings to begin the game.

A’s Answer Back

The A’s got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth inning. With two outs, left fielder Carlos Cortes cut his team’s deficit in half with his ninth home run of the season, a solo shot to right field.

Perkins kept the momentum on the hosts’ side by turning in a scoreless fifth inning, his third straight clean frame.

Blue Jays Add On

Perkins’ night ended after he allowed two straight singles to open the sixth inning. He allowed four runs on seven hits over five innings. The right-hander struck out three, and most importantly, walked none in a much-improved performance from his previous outing.

Right-hander Chris Roycroft entered from the A’s bullpen and failed to strand the inherited runners. The first batter he faced, Toronto catcher Alejandro Kirk, hit an RBI single, extending the visitors’ lead to 3-1. The Blue Jays plated a fourth run when Smith grounded into a double play with runners on the corners.

A’s No Match for Soriano

Seeking to comeback, Bolte and Jeff McNeil led off the bottom of the sixth with singles against Soriano. For a second time tonight, Soriano escaped a jam unscathed, inducing ground balls to maintain Toronto’s three-run advantage. Lawrence Butler failed to come through with a runner in scoring position for a second time this evening.

A’s Inch Closer

After Roycroft escaped a runner-on-third, one-out situation in the top of the seventh inning, A’s second baseman Donovan Walton made it a 4-2 game with his sixth home run of the season, a solo shot to right field.

Soriano allowed just the two solo home runs on six hits over seven innings, striking out three while recording an astounding 15 groundball outs.

Right-hander Geoff Hartlieb tossed two scoreless innings to close out the game, keeping the hosts within striking distance. Unfortunately, the Athletics did not possess late inning magic for a second consecutive night. Blue Jays right-hander Spencer Miles shut the hosts down over the final two innings, securing his second save of the season and forcing a series rubber match tomorrow afternoon.

The A’s have southpaw Brady Basso lined up as the opener tomorrow, while the Blue Jays have yet to announce their starter for the series finale.

Blue Jays 4 A’s 2

We got off to an early lead today; Josh Smith and Kazuma Okamoto each homered in the second inning.

And we got two more in the sixth. We got singles from Nathan Lukes, Vladimir Guerrero and Alejandro Kirk to start the inning. Lukes scored on the Kirk single. And Vlad went first to third. He scared me when he did it, but he slowed a second, and then the throw came in to second, so he took off to third. Good heads-up running. It worked out because he was able to score on Josh Smith’s 4-3 double play.

There was some strangeness after that. Okamoto, in his at-bat, put his hand towards his helmet and plate umpire Bill Miller thought he was asking for a challenge. He seemed to say he wasn’t, but it did cost us when it was a strike. Next up, Andrés Giménez asked for a challenge and was wrong, using up our last challenge. Giménez should have been smarter; no need to waste our last challenge on a 1-0 count.

We got a very good outing from José Soriano. Seven innings, six hits, two earned runs (on solo homers), one walk and three strikeouts.

And Spencer Miles got a two-inning save (just a few days after they said they were going to limit his innings). His second save of the season. He threw two clean innings with three strikeouts. Pretty amazing.

We had some great defence today:

• The first out of the second inning was a ball hit hard down the third-base line; Okamoto made a nice pickup behind the bag and made a good one-hop throw to Vlad.
• Giménez got the last two outs of that inning, picking up the ball at short, beating the runner to the bag and then throwing to first while jumping over the runner.
• Vlad got the last out of the first, getting the ball deep behind first and throwing from foul territory to José Soriano covering first.
• Giménez also made a nice play in the fourth, picking up a grounder and making a spin and throw to first.
• Okamoto had another nice play in the seventh: a hard grounder down the line, pick up, and a perfect throw.
• Vlad grabbed a line drive in the ninth.

We had 11 hits and 2 home runs, so we really should have had more than 4 runs. Vlad, Smith and Okamoto had two hits each. The only starter without a hit was Ernie Clement.

Jays of the Day: Soriano (0.26 WPA) and Miles (0.21). Honourary mention to Smith and Okamoto.

No one gets the Other Award. The low mark was Sanchez at -0.07.

Tomorrow, we have everyone’s favourite thing, a bullpen game. And it is an afternoon game. 3:00 Eastern. The A’s are starting Brady Basso (4.32 ERA on the season), who hasn’t gone more than 3 innings this season, so it’s a bullpen day on their side too.