Manoah, Bichette power Blue Jays to shutout win over Pirates
Toronto maintains 1 1/2-game edge over Baltimore in race for final AL wild-card spot
Alek Manoah pitched shutout ball into the eighth inning and Bo Bichette homered, leading the Toronto Blue Jays to a 4-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.
Manoah (13-7) allowed five hits and struck out six in 7 1/3 innings, retiring 15 of the final 18 batters he faced. The right-hander went at least seven innings without allowing a run for the first time since last Sept. 13, when he made it through eight innings.
The Blue Jays have won 10 of 15 and maintained their 1 1/2-game edge over the Baltimore Orioles in the race for the third and final wild-card spot in the American League.
Kickin' incredibly dope HITS 🤩 <a href="https://t.co/JQ1TuS5aFB">pic.twitter.com/JQ1TuS5aFB</a>
—@BlueJaysManoah tossed 98 pitches one night after standing on the sideline for his alma mater, West Virginia, in its 38-31 loss to No. 17 Pittsburgh in the revived college football Backyard Brawl. On Friday night, he was met with cheers from a section filled by the university's baseball team. The 24-year-old All-Star was drafted No. 11 overall out of West Virginia by the Blue Jays in 2019.
Toronto scored a pair of runs with three straight hits off of Tyler Beede (1-5) to start the fourth inning. Matt Chapman led off with a double down the left-field line, Cavan Biggio followed with an infield single and Santiago Espinal drove both in with a double to left.
"We were just trying to stay aggressive while making sure that every pitch that he threw was in the zone," Espinal said. "Making sure that we're not swinging at bad pitches. He's a little bit wild. We got the W and we got good pitches to hit."
SantiaGOAT gets us going 🐐 <a href="https://twitter.com/santdr13?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@santdr13</a> <a href="https://t.co/kG9GOZIpvN">pic.twitter.com/kG9GOZIpvN</a>
—@BlueJaysBeede replaced Johan Oviedo, who was pulled after 77 pitches and three shutout innings in his first start for Pittsburgh since a trade from St. Louis on Aug. 1. Oviedo allowed two hits and three walks with four strikeouts.
A leadoff double by Tyler Heineman gave Pittsburgh a chance to go ahead in the third, but he was caught trying to advance on a passed ball.
That came after Manoah had a four-pitch fifth inning, retiring Mitchell and Chavis on one pitch before using two to set down Tucupita Marcano.
"I was kind of hoping it was going to be three pitches," Manoah said. "Threw a heater right down the middle. I don't know. That was pretty good. Needed a nice little break there."
Bichette added to the Blue Jays' lead in the ninth with a two-run homer to left, his 18th of the season.
"He's just getting back to himself," Espinal said of Bichette. "As you can see, he's feeling more comfortable now. That's the Bo that we know."
