Manoah delivers a classic, tenacious performance in the Blue Jays’ win over the Twins

MINNEAPOLIS – Look, Alek Manoah’s gonna hit some guys. He hit an American League-best 16 in just 111.2 innings last season. He went to the start on Thursday and retained his AL title with 10. Want to take command of the inside half of the plate? Want to hit righties with front hip sinkers and lefties with back foot sliders? Yeah, you’re gonna hit some guys.

And lately, Manoah himself has been hit. His last start on Friday against the Detroit Tigers ended when Jonathan Schoop tagged Manoah with a line drive to the pitching elbow. Back on the mound six days later against the Minnesota Twins, Manoah cruised to – bang! – He was caught again, this time by a Carlos Correa comeback from the right tricep.

Throw enough pitches and you’ll end up carrying one every now and then. But twice in two starts?

“For the second week in a row something strange is happening. Thank god it wasn’t the kind of deal it could have been,” Manoah said. “[Elbow’s] Well. See you tomorrow. But this time it got me a little higher on the triceps. So just a few soft parts. We’ll work it out of there.”

Manoah’s bigger concern was actually the guy he hit – Jose Miranda four pitches after the comebacker. Manoah struggled to find his mechanics after Correa’s liner, walked loaded across the bases before smacking the Twins’ third baseman on the left wrist with a 94-mile sinker that got away. They could hear the impact around the ballpark. Miranda’s moans could also be heard. It took him some time to get back on his feet.

Of course, Manoah didn’t try to hit him. He waved ‘my mistake‘ to Miranda after gathering himself and reaching the first base. But Manoah will not shy away from his approach either. It’s effective because it’s aggressive. He’s efficient because he attacks. He gets an air of mid-’90s heaters on the plate because thugs don’t feel comfortable competing against him. He will keep doing what he is doing.

“Yeah, I think the boys know I’m throwing in. And I can’t stop attacking this field. We’ve done a lot of work – my hit-by-pitches are a lot lower this year than last year,” Manoah said. “I’m just going to keep attacking it and making those adjustments. I am not perfect. I really hope Miranda is okay. I saw him with a handguard on the next swing. And I really hope that all players can easily use and agree with it. But we will continue to work on it and master the inner part of the record.”

And he’ll keep crunching like Manoah did Thursday, working around the bases-laden hit batter and four walks to log six innings of two-run ball in a Blue Jays 9-3 win over the Twins .

It was Manoah’s 17th quality start in 21 games this season. It pushed him further into uncharted waters of workload as he reached 132 innings thrown on the year. And it was the classic, tenacious Manoah as he evenly shuffled four-seaters from two-seaters from shifters, stalking the hill after strikes and repeatedly finding great pitches when he needed them.

“He is,” said Blue Jays interim manager John Schneider. “Just dial in. He was evil. Obviously only the unlucky one with loaded bases. But he’s found a different gait, as he always does — especially with guys.”

And he got stronger the further he went. Manoah started his night at 93-94 mph and finished 95-96. Thirteen of his 15 toughest pitches that night came in the fifth and sixth innings, including a pair that hit 97. Picking up speed over the course of an outing isn’t something many 24-year-old starters can do. This is Justin Verlander and Carlos Rodon stuff. But here in his second season, Manoah seems to be figuring it out.

“There was a good mood outside. I’m in front of a really good line-up. This is a playoff team. And we’re a playoff team. So I kind of went into today thinking this was a playoff matchup,” Manoah said. “I just wanted to put some energy into this dugout. And I felt like I got stronger as I started.”

Was his control erratic after Correa tagged him? Yes. Did he have his best change? no Could he have gotten deeper into the game if he hadn’t sprayed the ball on his second drive through the order? Certainly. But did Manoah give his team half a dozen low-scoring innings and put them in a great position to win? Absolutely. And he’s done that far more often than not in his first two seasons in the big league.

When things inevitably go wrong on the baseball diamond, he’s found a way to get the job done.

And after struggling to cash early runners against Twins starter Sonny Gray, who stranded five walks, Manoah’s offense found a way to do hers. Teoscar Hernandez got Toronto on the board in sixth place, punishing a 3-2 splitter by Gray’s backup, Emilio Pagan, and hitting him about as high as before:

And the Blue Jays continued to chip away at Pagan from there, as Bo Bichette slammed a two-strike double against the wall before Lourdes Gurriel Jr. drove him down the middle with a two-strike single. Gurriel scored himself on Whit Merrifield’s first as Blue Jay, a 100mph grounder for Miranda, who had to rush to make a play to beat the speedy midfielder first and botched it.

Jump forward to the top of eighth place and it was Bichette, Gurriel and Merrifield repeating the procession – doubles, singles and singles – this time against Trevor Megill, who throws 98 and entered the game with a 1.93 ERA. Megill’s power ultimately gave way to Tyler Duffey’s finesse, and the Blue Jays had little trouble with that approach either. Cavan Biggio and George Springer had quick singles against the right-hander, prompting Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to do what Vladimir Guerrero Jr. does:

At your peril, hang this guy a 3-1 breaking ball in the inside half. Nobody hit a ball harder all night.

And suddenly what was developing into a close game after Manoah’s determined performance turned into a laugh. After averaging 3.14 runs in their last seven games, the Blue Jays needed it. They scored as many runs on Thursday as they have in the last three games combined. And they easily beat a good team, a division leader who loaded aggressively on Thursday.

In the end, every Blue Jays starter reached base at least once. Alejandro Kirk walked three times. Five Blue Jays got away with multi-hit games. And Manoah walked away with a hit of his own – his 11th plunked batter of the season.

It will happen. And Manoah gets it. After all, he’s been wearing a pair himself lately. But if we’ve learned anything about Manoah from his 41 starts as a Blue Jay, it’s that the big man can go through a lot. And if something goes wrong, he finds his way.

“I just put my face in the hat and try to eliminate all outside noise. Just try to breathe, control my heart rate. And if I can do that, I can usually control my mechanics out there,” Manoah said. “I just get into a good rhythm where my mechanics are free and light and I can attack downhill. When I do that, I feel like it goes down pretty well.”