Another Greene effort wasted
TORONTO — Bo Bichette hit two home runs, pitcher Alek Manoah matched his careerhigh with eight innings, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-1 on Saturday.
Bichette’s first was solo home run off Reds righthander Hunter Greene in the fourth, No. 50 of Bichette’s career, and added a two-run blast off Luis Cessa (2-1) in the seventh.
Greene allowed one run and four hits in six innings, walking two and striking out six in his first start since tossing 71/3 hitless innings against Pittsburgh lastSun- day.
Manoah (5-1) allowed one run and seven hits.
Jordan Romano struck out the side in the ninth for his AL-leading 14th save in 16 chances, fanning fellow Canadian Joey Votto for the second out.
The Reds opened the scor- ing on Votto’s RBI double in the fourth, which came after a unique double play that nearly stopped Cincin- nati’s rally before it started.
TJ Friedl singled to open the inning and advanced to third on Tyler Naquin’s double. Tommy Pham broke his bat on the first pitch he saw from Manoah, sending a liner back to the mound. Manoah evaded a jagged piece of broken bat and made the catch, then quickly threw to third to double up Friedl.
After getting 22 outs without giving up a hit against the Pirates, Greene retired the first batters he faced Saturday before issuing a two-out walk to Alejandro Kirk in the second.
Greene retired the side on four pitches in the third, but his no-hit streak ended when Bichette connected on the first pitch of the fourth.
Greene on the gun
Greene threw 24 of his 84 pitches at 100 mph or faster. Another 13 were at least 99 mph.