Blue Jays use four-run 8th to beat Mariners

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, May 9, 2018

What a rough month of May for Juan Nicasio.

He entered Wednesday with the second-most holds in the major leagues, a stat tied to how often a reliever holds a lead out of the bullpen. Nicasio’s been the Seattle Mariners’ most trusted set-up reliever to Edwin Diaz.

Except Nicasio allowed five consecutive hits, including four doubles, in the bottom of the eighth inning before he was finally pulled after one out.

Damage done, though.

The Toronto Blue Jays used that four-run eighth inning to cruise to a 5-2 victory over the Mariners at Rogers Centre.

“Had a chance to get this one tonight,” Mariners manager Scott Servais told reporters after the game. “It hurts letting it get away.”

Nicasio has allowed teams to tie or take a lead against him in three of his past four appearances, including the Angels before the Mariners’ extra-innings win on Saturday and Paxton’s 16-strikeout start, when Paxton left with a 2-0 lead before Nicasio allowed two runs in the eighth in the Mariners’ eventual loss.

Nicasio had 11 holds and had allowed one extra-base hit in his first 14 appearances with his new team. His past four appearances? He’s had one hold, allowed five runs and five extra-base hits.

And that would have been six extra-base hits had Guillermo Heredia not thrown Kevin Pillar out at second base for the first out in the eighth.

“It just happens sometimes in the game,” Nicasio said. “You got to make a new pitch and make it happen, and today I wasn’t feeling my breaking ball – and my fastball was up in the zone. It’s going to happen.”

The Mariners led 2-1 for seven innings, but their offense was 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

Wade LeBlanc was no Paxton — he allowed a hit to the first batter of the game, to be sure. But he was plenty effective in his second start of the year after having not started previously since 2016.

LeBlanc allowed one run and four hits in five innings before the left-hander exited after 58 pitches, turning it over to a bullpen that he began the season as a member of.

LeBlanc had run out of gas after four innings his previous start against the Oakland Athletics. He hadn’t allowed a run, but the converted reliever emptied the tank after 70 pitches.

Then he pitched three more scoreless innings Wednesday in Toronto until Teoscar Hernandez led off the fourth with a solo home run.

Hernandez crushed LeBlanc’s 86-mph fastball 440 feet over the left-field wall. LeBlanc left it in the worst spot, middle of the plate and up. Maybe 100-mph Paxton gets away with that, but not LeBlanc.

But he rebounded.

LeBlanc allowed a couple of singles after having allowed just one hit the first three innings, but he escaped without further damage before pitching a 1-2-3 fifth inning.

“It was a one-run game and he did exactly what we needed him to do,” Servais said. “He gave us five innings and we turned it over to the bullpen. We felt good where we were at, and I thought our bullpen was rested. (We) just didn’t get it done.”

LeBlanc exited with a 2-1 lead thanks to Dee Gordon’s early speed.

Gordon struck out to lead off the game but reached first on a wild pitch. Then Jean Segura, who had three of the Mariners’ five hits, send a hard grounder down the right-field line. Gordon turned on his exceptional wheels and scored all the way from first base before the throw could reach home.

Segura later scored on Mitch Haniger’s ground-rule double in the third inning. Haniger was 1-for-1 with the double and three walks. But Ben Gamel’s pinch-hit single in the ninth was the Mariners’ only other hit.

“We didn’t take advantage of opportunities we had there,” Servais said. “We had a lead there late in the game, and you’re hoping guys can lock it down.”

But then the Jays opened the eighth with back-to-back-to-back doubles from Josh Donaldson, Yangervis Solarte and former Mariner Justin Smoak before one more from Russell Martin. They scored four runs in the inning on six hits before right-hander Erik Goeddel got the Mariners out of it.

Servais said they’d still trust Nicasio in a similar situation Thursday.

“He might be one of those guys who it doesn’t really help him being down two, three days,” Servais said. “(He) just an off night. We need him. He got us off to a good start this year with he and Eddy in the back end. If we have the same situation tomorrow, he’ll be out there.”