Bo Bichette homers, Chris Bassitt makes quality start as Toronto Blue Jays Seattle Mariners' best player

TORONTO – The Toronto Blue Jays got their first win of the season with a 5-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night that moved them back over the .500 mark.

Bo Bichette hit his first mound of the season, Chris Bassitt picked up his first win, and the Blue Jays snapped their first series win over the Mariners, who had dropped six of seven games.

Bichette had a two-run shot in Toronto's three-run third inning. Isiah Keener-Falefa had three of the Blue Jays' 11 hits.

“Bo is one of the best hitters in the league,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “I think everybody knows that now. Big hit today. It's right there, right where it's needed.”

Bichette launched a slider off Seattle starter George Kirby (1-2) that traveled about 431 feet. The Blue Jays (6-6) scored two more runs in the fourth inning.

Bassitt, meanwhile, threw 6 2/3 solid innings with his only blemish on Dominic Canzon's solo homer in the seventh.

“His journey has been incredible,” Schneider said. “He was in total command.”

Blue Jays reliever Trevor Richards gave up two runs to Mitch Haniger in the eighth. Chad Green recorded four strikeouts in his second save.

The Mariners (4-8) managed six hits.

“We're not playing great baseball,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “It was a disappointing night. It wasn't a good outing. It wasn't a good start to the season.”

The Blue Jays have lost two series and split the other in their 10-game season-opening road trip. Toronto will look to end a three-game sweep of the Mariners on Wednesday afternoon.

Bassitt (1-2) was one of Toronto's most consistent pitchers last season with a 16-8 record and a 3.60 earned run average over 200 innings. But he got off to a slow start this year and struggled early with some control issues against the Mariners.

The right-hander issued a walk in each of the first three innings but survived without injury. Cavan Biggio and Bichette helped complete a 4-6-3 double play to finish third.

Daulton Warshaw singled in the bottom half and took second base when Kirby was called out for a separation violation. George Springer fouled out on eight pitches before driving in his teammate with a single.

“He fought his ass off and then passed,” Schneider said. “George is a professional. I think his at-bats are very underrated right now.”

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. reached when he chased down Springer from second base and scored Bichette's first homer of the season. The explosion hit the 200-level seating in Toronto.

“Obviously, when I'm going well, I tend to hit the ball hard,” Bichette said. “Really (it's about) hitting every pitch.”

In the fourth inning, Keener-Falefa drove in Biggio with an RBI double and later scored on an RBI single by Springer.

Former Blue Jays right-hander Trent Thornton pitched a single for Seattle in the fifth. Kirby allowed eight hits and five earned runs with three hits.

“I thought I was a little overmatched in the zone tonight,” Kirby said. “I just didn't expand as much as I should have.”

Canzone's homer was his third of the season, and Haniger's blast off a foul screen in left was his second of the year.

Bassitt allowed five hits, one run and four walks. He had eight strikeouts and lowered his ERA from 7.71 to 5.06.

“This line-up gave me a lot of trouble, so I knew I had to do something off-script,” he said. “I mixed up how I played a little bit.”

Attendance was 31,310 after more than 40,000 people opened the house the night before.

The game lasted two hours and 53 minutes.

Work from the dome

The teams will wrap up the series with an afternoon kickoff. Left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (0-1, 2.79) started for Toronto against right-hander Logan Gilbert (0-0, 3.55).

IN CASE

Both teams have the day off on Thursday.

The Blue Jays continue a nine-game homestand with a three-game series opener against the Colorado Rockies on Friday.

The Mariners return to T-Mobile Park for a six-game homestand starting with a weekend series against the Chicago Cubs.

This Canadian Press report was first published on April 9, 2024.

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