TORONTO – The ability to snuff out rallies in the middle innings, before the high-stakes moment of leverage arrive, can sometimes be as pivotal as the outs recorded in actual close and late situations.
Take the Toronto Blue Jays’ 5-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday afternoon, giving them three of four against their divisional rival and seven wins in the past eight outings, for example.
While the score doesn’t suggest a white-knuckle finish, it’s the relief work provided by Patrick Murphy and Tim Mayza in the sixth and seventh frames that’s primarily responsible for that.
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Murphy took over from starter Ross Stripling with none out and runners on the corners in the sixth and quickly escaped the jam with the 5-2 lead intact. Back out for the seventh, Murphy walked a pair and left the bases loaded with two out for Mayza, who induced a weak comebacker from pinch-hitter Trey Mancini to keep the Orioles under wraps.
That was instrumental in helping the Blue Jays bridge the gap to closer Jordan Romano for the ninth inning, setting up Anthony Castro to cover the eighth with margin for error. The right-hander, pitching in a role usually reserved for Tyler Chatwood, struck out the side in his frame, making what could easily have turned into a hairy finish a much more comfortable one.
Stranding five inherited runners is notable, given that the Blue Jays relievers have allowed 33 per cent of inherited runners to score this season, a number that’s 13th in the majors and just a tick below the average of 35 per cent.
In the absence of a lockdown bullpen or a blowout from the offence, success in those key moments is a key way for the Blue Jays to limit the damage.
Stripling continued his recent roll by allowing two runs in five innings of work, but needed the assist from Murphy to ensure the game remained under wraps. He continued to pound his fastball but generated only four whiffs in this outing, one on the heater that was fouled off 18 times.
The Orioles have been pesky like that, but teams may be recognizing the adjustments Stripling has made in recent weeks to his delivery and repertoire. In his previous three outings, he got 12 whiffs against the Red Sox, 18 versus the Yankees and eight against the Marlins.
He gave up a Ryan Mountcastle homer in the first and then a Ramon Urias RBI double in the fifth as he was worked but not really threatened.
The Blue Jays offence, meanwhile, pressured the Orioles’ arms all game but had big innings blunted by three double plays and DJ Stewart erasing Vladimir Guerrero Jr., trying to score on a Biggio single the third.
Guerrero’s two-run double earlier in the inning opened up a 3-1 edge an inning after the tying run came home on Randal Grichuk’s double-play ball. Once the Orioles pulled with a run in the top of the fifth, Biggio extended the advantage in the bottom half with a two-run double.
