Alejandro Kirk

The 2024 season clearly hasn't gone the way the Blue Jays hoped. Expected to contend for a Wild Card spot at the very least, the Jays have instead encountered notable injuries (Jordan Romano, Alek Manoah) and seen career-worst performances from several key players (Bo Bichette, Alejandro Kirk, Justin Turner, Kevin Kiermaier). Top prospect Orelvis Martinez…

Tigers' closer Jason Foley was called upon to put out a fire in the eighth inning, so it was Holton who was entrusted the ninth to face the bottom of the Jays' lineup. The 28-year-old southpaw made it look easy in this one, getting Daulton Varsho on a ground ball to second, Alejandro Kirk on a fly ball to left and Ernie Clement on a comebacker to end it. On the season, Holton has compiled a 3.29 ERA, 0.88 WHIP and a 39/11 K/BB ratio over 52 innings to go with four wins and three saves.

SEATTLE (AP) Daulton Varsho drove in the go-ahead with an RBI single in the top of the 10th inning, as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Seattle Mariners 5-4 on Sunday.Varsho s base-hit off Mariners reliever Collin Snider (0-1) with two outs drove in automatic runner Vladimir Guerrero Jr. from second base and sent the Blue Jays to a series victory over the Mariners, who have now dropped six consecutive series.Chad Green (2-1) got the win. G nesis Cabrera pitched the 10th for his second save.Mariners center fielder Victor Robles got the scoring started with a leadoff solo homer off Blue Jays starter Jos Berr os in the third, but Toronto tied it in the fourth when Bo Bichette led off with a ground-rule double against Kirby, and scored on a one-out sacrifice fly from Alejandro Kirk.Mitch Garver put Seattle back ahead in the fifth with a three-run homer, his 12th of the season, but George Springer tied the game back up with a three-run blast in the seventh off Mariners reliever Ryne Stanek.Stanek came on in relief for Mariners starter George Kirby after Kirby allowed back to back singles. After Stanek struck out Kevin Kiermaier, Springer launched a fastball 400 feet to center field to make it a 4-4 game.Kirby gave up seven hits and three earned runs with eight strikeouts in six innings.Jose Berrios allowed four earned runs and seven hit over six innings for the Blue Jays, with 10 strikeouts.Blue Jays second baseman Leo Jim nez second inning single was his first MLB hit.ALL-STARMariners RHP Logan Gilbert was named to the American League All-Star team on Sunday for the first time in his MLB career. Gilbert has a 2.91 ERA and 108 strikeouts in 117 innings. His 14 quality starts are tied for most in the majors, while his 0.92 WHIP is the best in the AL.TRAINER S ROOMMariners CF Julio Rodriguez was out of the lineup, one day after he exited in the first inning with a quad injury.Rodriguez MRI results came back clean, and he pinch-hit in the eighth inning of Sunday s game RHP Bryan Woo and RHP Gregory Santos both made rehab appearances Saturday with High-A Everett on Saturday.UP NEXTBlue Jays: LHP Yusei Kikuchi (4-8, 4.12 ERA) will pitch Tuesday against Blake Snell when Toronto opens a three-game series in San Francisco,Mariners: RHP Logan Gilbert (5-5, 2.91 ERA) will pitch Tuesday for Seattle in the first of a two-game series in San Diego, against Padres righty Adam Mazur.___AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlbCopyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The right-hander racked up eight strikeouts on the day while allowing only one base on balls. The Jays scratched out a run against him in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly by Alejandro Kirk. Kirby then allowed a pair of singles to start the seventh inning before turning the ball over to the bullpen -- and both runs ultimately scored. The 26-year-old hurler got 16 swings and misses on 93 pitches in the contest -- 10 of those on his heater -- while posting a strong CSW of 33 percent. He'll look to finish his first half strong as he brings a 3.39 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and a 109/11 K/BB ratio (111 2/3 innings) into Saturday's showdown against the Angels in Los Angeles.