Manoah puts rocky start behind, rights ship in Bronx

NEW YORK -- Alek Manoah is at his best when he’s the main character.

He assumed that familiar role before the first pitch even flew Saturday at Yankee Stadium. Gerrit Cole stood atop the mound, ready to pitch to George Springer, but Manoah was still taking his time walking in from the bullpen with catcher Alejandro Kirk by his side.

As he walked the final 50 feet from the left-field foul line to the Blue Jays’ dugout, the game waited for him.

Manoah may have decided when the game started, but he didn’t get the chance to decide how it ended.

The Blue Jays ended up on the wrong end of a walk-off, losing 3-2 in a game that held hope for a fleeting moment in the top of the ninth after Danny Jansen tied it with a pinch-hit home run. Manoah and Cole let their pitching do the talking this time, trading zeroes like the aces they are.

Manoah was at just 85 pitches through seven scoreless innings when the Blue Jays made the call to go to Yimi García, who was Mr. Reliable in 2022 but is still searching for a groove this season. García surrendered the two-run homer to rookie Anthony Volpe, who took a curtain call as Yankees fans chanted his name.

“[Alek] always wants to stay in,” manager John Schneider said. “Part of it was the way it lined up with the bullpen and part of it was having him have a good outing under his belt in New York and get rolling a little bit. It was tough. Whenever it doesn’t work out, you say, ‘[Crap].’ You second-guess it. But we were turning the ball over to guys we really trust.”

This loss stings. The Blue Jays had every opportunity to get the better of Cole, but they went 0-for-9 in the game with runners in scoring position. With MLB’s new schedule shaving off two series, these AL East rivals will face one another just four times this season. The stakes are higher.

“Man, they're tough. They grind, they don't give a pitch up,” Cole said. “They're shifty. And obviously Alek was on his game today. I mean, he threw tremendous. I would have liked to get deeper, but I just felt like Toronto just [didn’t] let me get deep.”

The Blue Jays can’t be in the business of moral victories, but Manoah’s bounce-back performance is the closest thing you’ll find. The big man looked nothing like himself through his first four outings, opening with a 6.98 ERA and some worrying control issues. Something about Yankee Stadium always sets Manoah right, though. It’s where he started his big league career in 2021, and for a pitcher who loves the big stage, there’s no city like New York.

“All these games come down to the wire. It’s always a good game,” Manoah said. “Their young shortstop goes out there and hits a homer. Just when every Yankees fan thought the game was over, Jansen comes off the bench and hits a two-run homer. It’s just good, exciting baseball. We’re excited to be able to compete against them and battle. Every game in the AL East is a battle.”

Manoah versus Cole turned into some old-school baseball, as Schneider put it, far from the fireworks that could have erupted.

Last season, the two exchanged some heated words and Manoah invited Cole to “walk past the Audi sign” the next time he had a problem, referencing the Audi logo painted on the grass in front of the Yankees’ dugout. Manoah hasn’t backed down from the beef since, and while future chapters of this rivalry have all the makings of more drama, Saturday remained subtle.

“Like I’ve said all weekend, we’re not facing each other,” Manoah said. “I’m not getting in the box against him. He’s not getting in the box against me.”

Now, it’s time for Manoah to stack these outings on top of one another.

The Blue Jays’ rotation has been all over the place to start the season, but it’s moving in the right direction. Manoah looks like his old self again, Chris Bassitt has figured things out, and even the unpredictable duo of José Berríos and Yusei Kikuchi is providing reliable innings. Throw in Kevin Gausman, who has looked like an AL Cy Young candidate outside of one ugly inning, and the group has its feet on the ground again.

For it to work, though, the Blue Jays need Manoah out in front. The spotlight suits him, and for a player who can turn talk into fuel like he can, starts like Saturday’s should become the norm once again.