Manoah (13-7) allowed five hits and struck out six in 7 1/3 innings, striking out 15 of the last 18 batters he faced. The right-hander went at least seven innings without allowing a run for the first time since last Sept. 13, when he went eight innings. “He did more than we could have asked for,” Toronto coach John Snyder said. “He was awesome tonight. … I think it speaks for itself. We trust him and he is a huge competitor.” The Blue Jays have won 10 of 15 to maintain their 1 1/2 game lead over the Baltimore Orioles in the race for the third and final wild card in the American League. Manoah threw 98 pitches a night after sitting on the sideline for his alma mater, West Virginia, in its 38-31 loss to No. 17 Pittsburgh in the revamped college football Backyard Brawl. On Friday night, he was greeted with cheers from a section full of the varsity baseball team. The 24-year-old All-Star was drafted No. 11 out of West Virginia by the Blue Jays in 2019. “It meant a lot,” Manoah said. “Pregame, I’m off the field warming up. We just got excited, I was thinking about two years ago, sitting in the dugout, playing Pete. I’m like, ‘Man, I want to be in the big leagues playing here.’ Fast forward to now, I’m here doing it. There was great motivation to get out there. A lot of people support me and I just wanted to make them proud. It was really great to have a good night.” Toronto scored a pair of runs on a three-run hit by Tyler Beede (1-5) to start the fourth inning. Matt Chapman led off with a double down the left field line, Cavan Biggio followed with an infield single and Santiago Espinal drove both in with a double to left. “We were just trying to stay aggressive while making sure every pitch he threw was in the zone,” Espinal said. “Making sure we’re not swinging at bad pitches. He’s a bit wild. We got the W and had good pitches to hit.” Bente replaced Johan Oviedo, who was retired after 77 pitches and three innings in his first start for Pittsburgh following an Aug. 1 trade from St. Louis. Oviedo allowed two hits and three walks with four strikeouts. A leadoff double by Tyler Heineman gave Pittsburgh a chance to advance to third, but he was caught trying to advance on a pass. The Pirates, who have lost 28 of 38 since the All-Star break, didn’t get another hit off Manoah until Jack Suwinski’s one-out single in the seventh. Another single by Cal Mitchell put runners on the corner with two outs before Michael Chavis grounded out to third. That came after Manoah had a four-pitch fifth inning, retiring Mitchell and Chavis on one pitch before using two to knock down Tucupita Marcano. “I was hoping it would be three pitches,” Manoah said. “He dropped a heater right in the middle. I do not know. This was very good. He needed a nice little break there.” Bichette added to the Blue Jays’ lead in the ninth with a two-run homer to left, his 18th of the season. “She’s just coming back to herself,” Espinal said of Bichette. “As you can see, he is more comfortable now. This is the Bo we know.’ COACH ROOM Blue Jays: OF Lourdes Gurriel Jr. sat out with a sore left wrist. Pirates: 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes left after the fifth inning with left shoulder discomfort. It’s day by day. … OF Ben Gamel is out with a left leg problem. It is not expected to be serious, Principal Derek Shelton said. NEXT Pirates RHP Roansy Contreras (4-4, 3.57 ERA) will pitch Saturday against RHP Trevor Richards (3-1, 4.53) for the Blue Jays. Contreras, a rookie, has allowed seven runs in 24 innings over his last four outings. Richards will make his first start since September 17, 2020, while with the Rays.
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