Seattle Mariners at Toronto Blue Jays

Sometimes you hit three home runs and cruise to victory, other times you have to grind to give yourself a chance. On Friday it was the former for the Blue Jays, and Saturday, it was the latter. Toronto rallied from a three-run deficit to defeat the Mariners, 4-3, in the second game of a three-game series at Rogers Centre. Seattle jumped out to a 3-0 lead after four innings before walks and a defensive miscue let the Blue Jays back into the game in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Mariners starter Kade Anderson allowed a single off the bat of Myles Straw and issued a free pass to Brett Bateman. Reliever Eduard Bazardo then came on to strike out Alejandro Kirk, but followed it with walks of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and George Springer. What should’ve resulted in one run on the walk to Springer turned into two when ball four skipped away from catcher Cal Raleigh, allowing Bateman to scamper home from second. The Blue Jays would score two more in the bottom of the sixth on singles from Bateman and Kirk to take a lead they would never relinquish. Bateman admitted the play at the plate was closer than he anticipated, but he wanted to try to make something happen given the situation. “I was rounding third and I looked up and Raleigh didn’t have the ball yet,” Bateman said postgame. “There’s two outs, just trying to be aggressive. It worked out. Live and die by being aggressive on the base paths. As soon as I touched third, my head was looking at home.” Since his arrival in the big leagues on Aug. 7, Bateman has been the spark plug atop the lineup the Blue Jays have needed. After going 1-for-3 with an RBI and a walk on Saturday, he’s now hitting .329 across 76 at bats.