Jay win in an extra-inning walk
TORONTO — The Blue Jays saw the light on Saturday afternoon, thanks to Luke Maile’seye.
Under the department of “You take it any way you can,” Baltimore Orioles reliever Mychal Givens walked Maile with two out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning, giving the Jays a 4-3 victory. It was Toronto’s third win in a row and their first three-game win streak since April 29-May 1. Givens walked the Jays catcher on four straight pitches, the final pitch bringing Justin Smoak home from third.
Earlier in the inning, Givens walked Smoak and hit Randal Grichuk with a pitch. So was Maile thinking walk when he came up to the plate?
“I probably should have been but I wasn’t, to be honest with you,” said Maile. “I was ready to hit. I put a good swing on one from him the other night and so I felt pretty confident heading into it.”
It’s been a remarkable season for Maile in extra innings. Saturday’s walk-off walk represented the 27-year-old catcher’s third career walk-off, all coming this season. He smacked a 10th-inning single to win against Kansas City on April 17 and smashed a 12th inning homer against Boston on May 11. The Jays are 7-1 in extra-inning games in 2018 and have now won a series for only the second time in the last 12 sets.
Right-hander Aaron Sanchez gave the Jays their sixth consecutive quality start, going 6.1 innings while giving up two runs on six hits. He also struck out five and walked four.
Randal Grichuk hit his fifth home run of the season in the seventh.