TORONTO – Cal Raleigh is turning into quite the Blue Jays nemesis. He became a figure in the nightmares of Blue Jays’ fans by his work in last year’s wild-card series, then continued to torment them this weekend in Toronto, capping things with a game-winning two-run homer in the 10th inning on Sunday that gave the Seattle Mariners a 10-8 victory.
The win helped the visiting side avoid a series sweep and ruined the Blue Jays’ chances at a perfect homestand.
Long before those dramatics, Bo Bichette brought the crowd to its feet with his own rocket off a changeup from Mariners left-hander Marco Gonzales. It exited his bat at 113 m.p.h. and travelled a whopping 460 feet, marking the second furthest homer of the shortstop’s career. It was Bichette’s sixth homer of the season and served to pick up right-hander Chris Bassitt, who endured a rough start to the game.
Bassitt struck out the first two batters in the opening frame then painted the inside corner on left-handed hitter Jarred Kelenic with a sinker that looked like strike three. Home plate umpire Mark Carlson called it a ball, though, and Kelenic ended up walking.
It looked like Bassitt had struck out the next batter, Raleigh, of course, on another arm-side sinker, but that was also called a ball. Raleigh walked, Teoscar Hernandez was hit by Bassitt and then Taylor Trammell launched a 1-0 pitch over the right field wall for a grand slam.
In all, Bassitt expended 38 pitches in a first inning that, realistically, could have been over after just 15. The right-hander showed his frustration in the dugout as cameras caught him slamming a tablet into the bench.
However, Bassitt was able to right himself after allowing the home run, retiring 12 of the next 15 batters. He mixed in his seven pitches but leaned on an effective sinker that topped out at 93.8 m.p.h and generated four whiffs. In total, he allowed four runs on two hits and four walks over five innings, striking out seven.
Down 4-0, the Blue Jays chipped away in the bottom half of the first when Matt Chapman laced a double into left field that plated Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to make it 4-2. It was Chapman’s major-league-leading 19th extra-base hit — he then added another double in the ninth — and paved the way for Bichette’s dramatic blast in the second.
The Blue Jays added to their lead in the third inning on back-to-back run-scoring hits from Danny Jansen and Santiago Espinal. The extra runs proved necessary, especially since the Blue Jays were without closer Jordan Romano and reliever Erik Swanson, who both pitched in the first two games of the series.
Trevor Richards allowed a solo homer to former teammate Hernandez in the sixth that snapped a string of 15-straight hitless and scoreless innings from the Blue Jays’ bullpen. In the eighth frame, Raleigh continued his assault on Blue Jays pitchers when he took Anthony Bass deep for a two-run shot that cut the score to 8-7. Bass was relieved by Yimi Garcia, who allowed a two-out, game-tying single to J.P. Crawford in the ninth.
In the 10th, Raleigh struck again, taking a 1-0 slider from Zach Pop into the right-field stands for the eventual winner.
Next up for the Blue Jays is a 10-game, three-city road trip through Boston, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
