Okamoto Stole A Base! Oh, And Jays Win
Article excerpt
Blue Jays 3 Nationals 2 A lot happened in that game. But that Kazuma Okamoto stole a base was the biggest surprise to me. And it led to a run. He singled with one out. Stole second and scored on a Myles Straw single (yes, there was a Luis Urías walk that would have moved […]
Jul 27, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Toronto Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk (30) drops a pop up foul ball against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images | Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images
Blue Jays 3 Nationals 2
A lot happened in that game. But that Kazuma Okamoto stole a base was the biggest surprise to me. And it led to a run. He singled with one out. Stole second and scored on a Myles Straw single (yes, there was a Luis Urías walk that would have moved him up anyway). That made the score 3-1.
Max Scherzer started and….well….wasn’t great, but he only allowed one run to score in his 2.2 innings. 75 pitches in 2.2 innings tells you that it was a struggle. He allowed 4 hits and 3 walks, but he also struck out 4. He had the bases loaded in the first (but all stranded, even though Alejandro Kirk dropped an easy popup). Had a single, a walk, and a double in the second, but just one run scored. And in the third, he gave out a leadoff walk to CJ Abrams (who stole second and third), but he was stranded too.
Max’s ERA is under 10! (9.49).
Mason Fluharty got the last out of the third and pitched a quick fourth.
Adam Macko started the fifth. He gave up a solo homer while getting two outs.
Spencer Miles got the last out of the fifth. Then gave up a leadoff single in the sixth, but got a double play (just a terrific play by Urías, catching a soft line drive, then seeing that Daylen Lile wandered too far off second and made a nice throw to Vlad) and a strikeout.
Tyler Rogers had a quick seventh: ground out, strikeout, ground out.
Jeff Hoffman got the eighth, which didn’t scare any of us. He got two strikeouts, gave up a double (good pitch) and got another strikeout.
Louis Varland got the ninth. He got a popup on a 100.5 pitch to start the inning. Then a strikeout. But then it went single and walk to make us sweat (it’s 30 C here in Calgary, I didn’t need help). A long fly was just foul. Then he got a called strike three, but it was overturned on a challenge. But a 100 mph fastball, at the top of the zone, got swinging strike three.
On the offensive side….as always, it would have been nice to score more but:
We got two in the third: Urías had a one-out homer. Then Myles Straw and Ernie Clement had back-to-back doubles. Nathan Lukes walked, but Vlad lined out (380 feet, and he needed 390), and Springer popped out.
And one in the fourth, that was mentioned above (I have seen Kirk steal and Okamoto steal; I can die happy).
We had 7 hits and 4 walks. Straw had 2 hits. Lukes (with a walk), Kirk (with a walk) and Varsho had 0 fors.
There was some terrific defence from both teams. CJ Adams made an amazing play on a ground ball in the ninth.
Jays of the Day: Varland (0.20 WPA), Hoffman (0.14), Rogers (0.11), Fluharty (0.11), Miles (0.10), Straw (0.13) and Urías (0.12).
Other Award: Well, Varsho had a -0.10.
We used 7 pitchers, but gave up just two runs.
Tomorrow is another 6:45 Eastern start time. Shane Bieber (2-1, 4.70) vs. Cade Cavalli (7-, 3.58).