Resilient Soroka logs quality start in loss

TORONTO -- For a moment on Tuesday night at Rogers Centre, it looked like Michael Soroka hadn’t brought his best stuff north of the border to his home country. Then, like an ace does, he found a way to make it work regardless.

Soroka allowed three straight singles to open the game -- two of which were hard hit -- before escaping the first inning down, 2-0. After that, the 22-year-old Calgary native recorded five scoreless innings to keep the Braves in the game despite the end result of a 3-1 loss. Soroka scattered eight hits over six innings and struck out one, but he managed to keep the ball on the ground and stay out of trouble.

• Box score

Soroka felt strong as he took the mound, but the tough first inning was the result of two similar approaches meeting head on. As Soroka challenged the rookies at the top of the Blue Jays’ order, they were ready to swing.

“They were aggressive,” Soroka said. “That’s a situation where I’m aggressive and, if I locate my pitches better in the first, we’re out of that inning in a few pitches. It could be one of those games that you roll into the seventh or eighth inning with a low pitch count if you make your pitches. Credit to them, they hit the ones I didn’t locate.”

Tuesday’s start bumped Soroka’s ERA to 2.44, which leaves him behind only Hyun Jin Ryu (2.00) and Max Scherzer (2.41) in Major League Baseball. In a league of heavyweights that stretches down through Jacob deGrom, Gerrit Cole, Clayton Kershaw and others, the young Soroka is holding his own, even on days when he needs to grind through it.

“He’s got good movement on his pitches,” said Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo. “I think that’s the first thing that [Bo] Bichette said when he came from his first at-bat, that his fastball moves a lot and he throws strikes. He’s pretty good, that’s why his numbers are so good. He’s a good pitcher.”

This start also offered Soroka a chance to rewrite his Canadian debut in 2018, which ended up being his last start of the season. In that June 19 start against the Blue Jays, Soroka allowed four runs on eight hits over 4 2/3 innings, then hit the injured list with right shoulder inflammation.

The Braves lifted Soroka after just 79 pitches, but that was part of the club’s plan to be cautious with its young star and nothing more.

“Everything is fine,” said manager Brian Snitker. “It’s just a situation where, because he did struggle through a couple innings, [we decided] just to get him out. We’re going to watch that. We’re going to watch the stressful innings with him. We’re not going to push him. We’re not going to extend his pitch count when we can’t, and that’s all part of getting him through this.”

Atlanta’s lineup was held fairly quiet throughout, but the one opportunity they’d like back came in the top of the seventh and the bases loaded. Josh Donaldson, fresh off a video tribute and multiple standing ovations in his own homecoming, came to the plate with two outs after the Blue Jays intentionally walked Freddie Freeman.

Donaldson was brushed back by reliever Derek Law, which landed him flat on his back, then eventually worked a full count. Donaldson then popped out to shortstop Bichette, ending the threat.

“We’re kind of in a collective little rut here,” Snitker said after the one-run output. “It’s not one guy, either, it’s the whole team. We’ve been fortunate in this run, I think we’ve won games with three hits and things like that. Eventually, it will turn. We’ll get back and the offense will come around and we’ll be fine.”