TORONTO – The Toronto Blue Jays lineup is so deep that Bo Bichette went nearly two weeks between home runs and, be honest, you probably didn’t even notice.
There was no missing the end of his dry spell on Tuesday night, when his three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth restored a lead lost in the top half of the frame on a three-run Ty France drive, and led the way in a 9-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners.
Marcus Semien, whose two-run double in the second opened the scoring, added a three-run homer in the seventh that broke things open and made for a stress-free finish to the Blue Jays’ eighth win in nine outings.
But it was Bichette’s drive, his first since a 6-5 loss to the Yankees on June 15, that ensured another dominant outing by Robbie Ray wouldn’t be undone by one mistake in his final inning of work.
Bichette found ways to be productive between homers, driving in eight runs and scoring seven while batting .267/.327/.333 over 11 games. Ordinarily, a dip from the No. 2 hitter would really have been felt, but with Semien continuing to demonstrate why he should be considered one of the top pending free agents, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., duelling Shohei Ohtani for MVP frontrunner status, George Springer just back and regular contributions from Teoscar Hernandez, Cavan Biggio, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Randal Grichuk and Reese McGuire, runs haven’t been at a premium.
That lineup kept Chris Flexen under constant pressure over his five innings, but the Blue Jays missed a chance for a decisive blow in the fifth when they loaded the bases with one out. They settled for a single run when Biggio’s fly ball to left scored Guerrero.
Ray, who had allowed two hits and a walk through five, gave up singles to J.P. Crawford and Mitch Haniger to open the sixth and struck out Kyle Seager for the third time, watched France turn on a down-and-in fastball for a game-tying three-run shot.
Ray recovered to strikeout the next two batters, giving him 10 in the game, and the Blue Jays responded in the bottom half.
