Manoah gives Blue Jays length with standout start 

SEATTLE -- The Blue Jays’ starting rotation has been banged up and road-weary, and the dents are showing in the team’s record. But they’re not showing in Alek Manoah.

The emerging ace of Toronto’s staff has been healthy, hungry and a horse on the mound in the first half of 2022. On the eve of what could very well be his first All-Star Game selection, he proved once again why he’s a leading candidate for the honor.

Manoah was both efficient and effective, helping eat very important innings for his team in a 2-1 loss to the surging Mariners on Saturday night at T-Mobile Park.

The Blue Jays’ recent offensive struggles continued -- the club notched only three hits and has lost three in a row in Seattle, eight of their last nine, and nine of their last 12.

But Manoah, 24 years old and in his second season in the Majors, continues to cruise through a breakout campaign. He was in command Saturday until leaving a 94 mph fastball up in the zone in the seventh inning that resulted in a two-run home run by Carlos Santana, Seattle’s only runs of the game.

“I told Manoah, ‘It was one pitch where you made a mistake,’” Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo relayed. “'Until then, you were totally good, man. It's a pleasure to manage you.’ He gave us everything he had and saved the bullpen for tomorrow.

“He was still battling, throwing 95 mph at 100 pitches, and he just made one mistake.”

The 6-foot-6, 285-pound right-hander looked like a shoo-in for the Midsummer Classic at Dodger Stadium on July 19 prior to Saturday, having compiled a 9-3 record, a 2.33 ERA, a WHIP of 0.99 and an opposing batting average of .213.

On Saturday, he largely stayed on point, pitching seven innings or more for the fourth time this season. But his effort was even more important when taken in the context of what the Blue Jays need right now. Big-ticket free-agent acquisition Kevin Gausman, who has a 2.86 ERA, is on the shelf for the time being with a deep bone bruise in his right ankle. Meanwhile, hard-throwing southpaw Yusei Kikuchi has been battling inconsistency and has now landed on the IL with a neck strain.

The Blue Jays didn’t even know who their Sunday starter would be until they saw the results of Saturday’s game. Manager Charlie Montoyo said prior to Manoah’s start that he hoped the righty would log at least seven innings and spare the relief arms that would have to make up the getaway day’s 'pen game.

So Manoah went ahead and got one out more than that, and much of his work looked effortless.

As Mariners manager Scott Servais said, “He was as advertised.”

Manoah retired the first four batters of the game, and after allowing his first baserunner on a walk to Eugenio Suárez in the second, he quickly erased the threat by inducing an inning-ending 3-5-3 double play off the bat of Cal Raleigh.

He allowed his first hit with one out in the fourth on a Ty France double into the left-field corner that had an exit velocity of only 86.5 mph, according to Statcast, and held Seattle scoreless until the seventh while George Springer gave the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead with a leadoff homer against familiar face Robbie Ray, the lefty who won the AL Cy Young Award last year with Toronto.

Manoah ran into some trouble in the seventh, giving up a leadoff single to J.P. Crawford before the heater Santana hammered 412 feet off the second-deck scoreboard in right field at 109.4 mph served as the game's deciding blow.

Even after the homer, Manoah kept going, getting out of the rest of the inning unscathed until being pulled after walking two batters in the eighth to give him four on the night. He ended up with 103 pitches (62 strikes), the second-most he’s thrown in a game all year.

After the game, Manoah said he was proudest of the length of his outing.

“I think that's the biggest positive out of the day,” he said. “Being able to pitch into the eighth inning and being able to limit the [bullpen] guys that we used out there. They've been amazing for us, just eating up innings and picking up some of our slack, so that's the biggest positive.”