Kirk walks it off vs. former teammate Romano as Blue Jays even set
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TORONTO -- No matchup would have been more fitting.
The Blue Jays’ 2-1 walk-off win over the Phillies on Wednesday had all the ingredients for a dramatic finish. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth at Rogers Centre, Jordan Romano faced off against his former catcher, and the narratives wrote themselves.
Alejandro Kirk came away victorious, working a seven-pitch at-bat before launching an RBI single that scored Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and sent the Blue Jays into a frenzy in the infield.
It was a new beginning for an old battery of 82 big league innings. Kirk insisted the familiarity behind the dish didn’t make much of a difference.
“Honestly, it wasn’t easy,” Kirk said in Spanish of facing Romano. “We all know that he’s one of the best relievers in the big leagues, and I think both of us did a good job there.”
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That much was evident. After an injury delay that knocked J.T. Realmuto out of the game, Romano allowed a one-out single to Guerrero, who picked up his first stolen base of the season in the following at-bat. By the time Kirk stepped up, Romano had dialed up his fastball from 95 mph to 98 mph. It was clear how much he wanted to get out of it.
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Kirk stayed right there with him, though, fouling off three consecutive pitches on a 1-2 count before launching a fastball up and over the plate to right-center field for the winning knock. It was another great at-bat in what’s shaping up as a nice season for Kirk, who now has two walk-off hits this year and three in his career.
Maybe it was his humility shining through when he said there was no advantage in facing a guy he knows so well. Kirk’s skipper offered a different point of view.
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“He's caught him plenty,” manager John Schneider said. “Jordan's got a very unique fastball profile. It's kind of a low slot and it gets on you, so it's tough to hit. I'm sure that played into it. It's a guy we're really familiar with and has had a ton of success. So it’s probably … I don't want to say easier for us, because we know him and he's got great [stuff], but I think it probably helped Kirky out there a little bit.”
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If nothing else, maybe it gave everyone a bit of extra motivation.
José Berríos knows all about that. His six innings of one-run ball also featured a matchup against an old teammate in Max Kepler, who came up through the Twins’ system and arrived in the Majors around the same time as Berríos.
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“It's weird when you have a good friendship, a relationship [with an opponent],” Berríos said. “ … It's weird, but at the same time, we are competing. He’s got on his mind trying to hit a home run, and I’ve got on my mind trying to strike him out. So we competed, and that's the fun part of this game.”
But it's even more fun when your team comes away with a win. Kepler lined out and worked a walk against Berríos, but the Blue Jays’ right-hander continued to make good pitches in the biggest moments to keep his team in the game. After a lopsided loss the night before, eking out a walk-off win to even the series put this team in a much better mental space.
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“We need to win ballgames, we need to win series,” Berríos said. “Yesterday was part of the game. That's baseball. But we were able to come back tonight and win the ballgame. So it's nice. It helps us a lot. We’re ready to get the series tomorrow.”
They may need the bats to show up a little earlier in order to get there, but it worked out Wednesday.
Bo Bichette was the first on the team to come up with a clutch hit, launching an RBI triple that tied it up in the bottom of the sixth. Guerrero and Kirk combined for the triumphant finish.
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Those are all core players who came up with Romano as well. After the game, the Phillies’ closer kept his comments to the events of the game. He spoke of Realmuto’s toughness and of how his pitches felt coming out of the hand. The emotions were there, but they weren’t the focus.
On the winning side, there was room for reminiscing.
“I always remember all the times that he helped us win, helped us get out of an important inning,” Kirk said with a smile. “It’s always nice to get to see him on the mound.”