2 weeks Ago By Shi Davidi
TORONTO — Intense and fiery a competitor as Jose Berrios is, the Toronto Blue Jays right-hander isn’t some hot-head prone to popping off at opponents. So when he had some words for Cal Raleigh as each was returning to their respective dugouts after Dylan Moore popped out to end the fourth inning Saturday, something notable prompted the outburst. Had the Seattle Mariners catcher been relaying pitch locations from second base earlier in the inning? A mound visit from Pete Walker preceded the Moore popper, and the Blue Jays' pitching coach is hawkishly vigilant about opponents trying to steal pitches from his staff.
Just last week in Boston, he appeared not to be happy with the Red Sox, perhaps for that reason. Either way, the cause of the Berrios-Raleigh exchange, which led the benches to clear but no serious escalation, wasn’t immediately clear, but it did add an intriguing subplot to what finished as an 8-4 Blue Jays loss in 12 innings. The two faced each other again in the fifth inning, when Raleigh’s go-ahead two-run double down the right-field line survived a replay challenge and put the Mariners up 2-1.
Berrios followed with a clean sixth, and after RBI singles by Alejandro Kirk in the fifth and Bo Bichette in the sixth put the Blue Jays back up, Ben Williamson’s solo shot to open the seventh knotted things up again and ended the righty’s afternoon. From there, the bullpens traded great escapes until the 12 th when Julio Rodriguez opened the inning against Jacob Barnes, the fifth Blue Jays reliever, with a fly ball that advanced J.P.
Crawford to third base. Barnes then walked Leo Rivas and Raleigh to load the bases, Randy Arozarena punched a single through the right side to break the tie, and another out later, Rowdy Tellez cranked a grand slam that broke the game open. Up to that point, Brendon Little, Nick Sandlin, Chad Green and Yariel Rodriguez had provided the Blue Jays with five shutout innings of work on a day when Yimi Garcia and Jeff Hoffman were unavailable.
But after grinding Logan Gilbert out for seven hits but only two runs in 4.2 innings, they couldn’t capitalize against the Mariners' bullpen after having the first two batters reach in the ninth and then squandering a runner at third with one out in both the 10 th and 11 th innings, the execution pivotal to a three-game win streak lacking before a crowd of 36,775. Despite allowing only four hits, Berrios was in-and-out of trouble over his six-plus innings, with only two clean frames due to four walks issued.
Raleigh opened the eventful fourth with a single and Luke Raley walked one out later to put two on. Berrios rallied to strike out Tellez before Walker’s mound visit, with Moore popping the first pitch, a slurve, into foul territory by first base where Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hauled it in.
Raleigh rounded third, running the ball out, and Berrios said something to him as they crossed paths leaving the field. Kirk got in between them and as the exchange continued, the dugouts emptied but remained separate. There were no other extra-curriculars between the clubs, but Alan Roden collided at full speed with Tellez in the fifth when Collin Snider fielded a little roller and pulled the first baseman into the lane with a poor relay throw.
Tellez absorbed all of Roden’s momentum and the rookie dropped, eventually regaining his wind and remaining in the game..
