Toronto Blue Jays at Philadelphia Phillies

José Soriano’s first start in a Blue Jays uniform wasn’t as lengthy as they may have hoped for, but the newest member of Toronto’s rotation gave his new team a solid effort against the Phillies. Soriano allowed two runs (one earned) over 4 2/3 innings in the Blue Jays' 5-4 victory Friday night at Citizens Bank Park, giving up four hits and three walks while striking out three. “It feels great to help the team win the game,” Soriano said. “That's the point.” Two of those strikeouts came at the perfect time for the right-hander, who was clinging to a one-run lead in the fifth. After walking Bryson Stott to open the inning, Soriano gave up a double to Justin Crawford, putting both the potential tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position with the top of the lineup headed his way. “I just tried to keep the focus in that moment,” Soriano said. “I tried to do one pitch all the time.” Soriano got Kyle Schwarber to swing through a knuckle-curve for the first out, then did the same to Trea Turner for the second out, throwing eight knuckle-curves over 10 pitches against the pair. Reliever Mason Fluharty came in to face Bryce Harper, striking him out to preserve the Blue Jays’ lead. “You see the stuff and you know who you're acquiring, but to kind of see the demeanor and see how they approach certain things, how they are in between innings, kind of see their cadence of the game, is nice,” manager John Schneider said. “For him to kind of not budge right there was really good to see.” * Blue Jays prospect notches hit off Wheeler in MLB debut Showing off his five-pitch arsenal, Soriano kept the Phillies off balance for most of his outing, looking at times like the pitcher that dominated through the first month of the season. Schneider said before the game that he and pitching coach Pete Walker had been talking with Soriano about his approach during their first few days together, delivering a simple message to the 27-year-old: Get in the zone and trust your stuff. “He’s had a really good year,” Schneider said. “Obviously, the first 40 innings of this year were elite for José, but there are things we've talked about in terms of not being on the edges so much, trying to dominate the 1-1 and 0-0 counts.”