Varsho, Gausman lead Blue Jays over Mariners
Global News
A slumping Daulton Varsho delivered a much-needed walk-off extra-inning hit. Still, starter Kevin Gausman and the pitching staff continued to carry the Toronto Blue Jays to one of their best starts in club history.
TORONTO – A slumping Daulton Varsho delivered a much-needed walk-off extra-inning hit. Still, starter Kevin Gausman and the pitching staff continued to carry the Toronto Blue Jays to one of their best starts in club history.
Behind Gausman’s career-high 13 strikeouts in seven innings, the Blue Jays squeezed out a 1-0 victory after Varsho’s drive to right centre field with none out and the bases loaded in the 10th inning on Saturday.
The victory extended the Blue Jays’ (18-9) win streak to six games and matched their best record after 27 games, set in 1992 and tied in 2009.
Meanwhile, the Mariners (11-16) have dropped four straight.
“We’re throwing the crap out of it right now,” Gausman said about how well the Blue Jays starters and relievers have performed recently.
“We just have kind of a bulldog mentality, next guy up mentality and making them beat us mentality. We’re attacking the zone and going after them with our best stuff.”
Gausman needed his best stuff to give the Blue Jays a chance to survive 25-year-old rookie Easton McGee. He arrived in Toronto with only three innings of experience from a relief outing on the final weekend of 2022.
McGee retired the first 12 batters he faced before issuing a walk to Matt Chapman to lead off the fifth inning. Chapman then stopped the no-hit bid with a two-out double off the top of the centre-field wall to end McGee’s afternoon in the seventh inning.
