August 27, 2019

By J.P. Antonacci

Canadian Baseball Network

Ten pitches into his second career start on home soil, Mike Soroka was in a jam.

Toeing the rubber for Atlanta at Rogers Centre in Toronto Tuesday night, the right-hander from Calgary allowed a leadoff single to Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette after a seven-pitch battle.

Bichette scampered to second when Atlanta third baseman Josh Donaldson – the stadium still ringing from the standing ovation he received upon his return to Toronto – airmailed his throw into the stands.

Cavan Biggio moved Bichette to third with a hard single to right, and a first-pitch knock into left field from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Montreal, Que.) plated Toronto’s first run.

With no out and runners on the corners, things weren’t looking good for Soroka. But where other 22-year-old rookies would falter, he did what he’s done all season. He bore down.

Rowdy Tellez popped out to Donaldson in foul ground before Soroka caught Randal Grichuk looking at strike three. Justin Smoak pulled a full-count curveball to right, driving in Biggio, but Soroka proceeded to get Billy McKinney to ground out to second to end the threat.

Soroka prevented what could have been a big first inning, but those two runs proved to be the difference in this one as the Braves fell to the Blue Jays 3-1.

The hard-luck loss lowered Soroka’s record to 10-3 and raised his ERA to 2.44, still good for third in the National League. Those numbers – plus the fact that he’s allowed fewer hits than innings pitched and has a sparkling 1.09 WHIP – have Soroka in the thick of both the National League Rookie of the Year and Cy Young award races.

Soroka didn’t exactly dominate the Blue Jays on Tuesday, allowing leadoff hits in all but one of his six innings. But he was constantly on the attack, working quickly and changing speeds, and managing to make big pitches to work out of trouble.

“I felt great, honestly. Today was one of those days where I actually felt really good, coming out early and letting it eat,” Soroka said after the game.

“We wanted to be aggressive just like we have been all year, and credit to them, I threw some pitches over the plate and they got hit.”

Soroka allowed just the two earned runs on eight hits, with one strikeout and no walks. He needed 79 pitches (56 strikes) to rack up his 17th quality start in 24 appearances.

“That’s the situation where if I locate my pitches better in the first, we’re out of that inning in a few pitches, and it could be one of those games where you roll into the seventh, eighth inning with a low pitch count,” he said. “So credit to them, they obviously hit the ones I didn’t locate.”

Manager Brian Snitker echoed Soroka’s self-assessment.

“It’s probably location as much as anything,” Snitker said. “The location wasn’t quite as sharp (in the first inning), but he settled in and was really good.”

Atlanta’s hitters didn’t do their starting pitcher any favours, floundering at the plate against opener Wilmer Font and a parade of seven Toronto relievers, who stranded 11 baserunners.

First baseman Freddie Freeman – a dual citizen whose parents were born in Canada – came up empty in four at-bats. The four-time all-star was robbed of a hit when left fielder Derek Fisher laid out to catch a sinking line drive off Freeman’s bat.

In the top of the sixth, Freeman lofted a pop fly that Guerrero tracked to the seats behind the third base bag. A fan in the front row was also tracking the ball, but not the infielder, as he reached out his bare hands and deflected the ball away from Guerrero’s outstretched glove.

As the boos rained down and the umpires reviewed the play, the mortified fan hid his face behind – ironically – his Guerrero jersey. He was spared further abuse from the crowd of 24,578 when the umpires overturned the initial foul call and declared Freeman out.

Jordan Romano (Markham, Ont.) was the fourth Canadian to appear in the game. He came on in the bottom of the seventh and got Rafael Ortega to ground out to first, with Romano hustling to the bag to receive Rowdy Tellez’s throw.

A single and a walk followed, and up stepped superstar Ronald Acuña Jr. with a golden opportunity to get his team on the scoreboard. After working the count even at 2-2, Acuña fouled off a slider and then swung through a 94 mph fastball on the corner.

The fans gave Romano a nice hand as he walked off the field, but their cheers were short-lived as Ozzie Albies doubled into the right field corner off reliever Derek Law, cutting Toronto’s lead in half.

Freeman was intentionally walked to load the bases for Donaldson, who popped out to shortstop to complete his 0-for-4 day at the dish.

Justin Smoak added some insurance with a solo home run off Atlanta reliever Sean Newcomb in the
seventh.

Playing in his 100th career game, Guerrero finished 2-for-3 with his 58th RBI of the season, pushing his batting average up to .280 and bolstering his own case for Rookie of the Year honours.