Jays have trouble hitting Paxton, lose to Mariners

Mariners 2 Blue Jays 1

There isn't all that much to say about that one.

The Jays just couldn't hit James Paxton. They only had 3 hits and 1 walk against him in 7 innings. The only run was Michael Saunder's home run in the 2nd inning. Paxton had 9 strikeouts.

There was really only one inning where we had a shot of scoring more off Paxton: The 6th, When Josh Thole took our one walk off Paxton, with 1 out, and, after Darwin Barney struck out, Josh Donaldson hit a double to left. A faster runner might have been waved home, but Thole isn't faster than, well, anyone. The throw home was well wide, so had he been sent home, he likely would have scored, but the right call was to hold him up. Then, with runners on second and third, Edwin Encarnacion struck out after 7 pitches.

We had another chance in the 9th, off Mariners closer Steve Cishek. Edwin Encarnacion took a 2-out walk and Troy Tulowitzki singled to left. But. Saunders got the worst call, in a night of many bad calls, for strike two, then he had to swing at what was strike three. This was the call:

Call hurts #BlueJays
Strike 2 should be ball 3
Bot 9 Cishek vs Saunders
0% call same
5.4in from edge pic.twitter.com/dt6FQxlpAd

— BlueJays Strike Zone (@BlueJaysUmp) July 23, 2016

Just a note for plate umpires, if the catcher's glove has to jerk 8 inches, after making the catch, it isn't a strike.

Being fair, the plate ump was terrible for both teams.

Marco Estrada wasn't very sharp but he only allowed 2 runs in 6 innings. That should be enough for a win. He allowed 7 hits and a walk, with just 3 strikeouts. There was a fair number of hard hit balls off him, but many found gloves. Some didn't....it seemed like Junior Lake was running in slow motion much of the night. The second run against him was bad luck, a barely hit pitch off the outside of the plate, that Seth Smith rolled down the 3rd base line, for a double.

Brett Cecil, Bo Schultz and Joe Biagini (2 innings) kept the M's off the board for the last 3 innings.

Jays of the Day? Tulo gets a .111 WPA for 2 for 4 night and I'll give one to Biagini for his .089. Estrada gets a honorable mention for fighting through it, without his best stuff.

Suckage: Saunders had a -.252 (even with the home run), much of that on the strikeout to end the game which wasn't all.  his fault. Barney gets a -.174 for an 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts, in the leadoff spot. Travis had an -.090, but he made an amazing play to end the top of the 9th.

Our former friend, Adam Lind, went 1 for 4 against us.

Also of note, Jose Bautista played for Buffalo, going 0 for 3 with a strikeout.

We had 1040 comments in the GameThread. Eric H led the way. Good job sir.