SAN DIEGO – Kazuma Okamoto made some history Friday, tying Shohei Ohtani for the most home runs by a Japanese rookie with 22.
More importantly for the Toronto Blue Jays, Okamoto provided the decisive swing in their 5-3 win over the San Diego Padres, hitting a three-run home run into the left-field seats in the top of the fifth inning. Thanks to that home run and a bounce-back outing from Shane Bieber, the Blue Jays improved to 45-49 on the season and are now 1.5 games behind the Mariners for the third American League wild-card berth.
It’s the kind of swing the Blue Jays have come to expect from Okamoto, who has established himself as the team’s most dangerous power hitter in just half a season.
If he can sustain this pace over the season’s second half, the right-handed hitting third baseman would end up with 38 home runs and a .786 OPS. And regardless of where the homer total ends up, he’s sure to pass Ohtani’s record – though White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami will likely be a factor in that race down the stretch, too.
While Bieber allowed two first-inning runs on a Xander Bogaerts home run, he settled in after his tough start and got plenty of support from a rested Blue Jays bullpen.
Making his fourth start of the season, Bieber covered 4.2 innings while allowing two runs and three walks on four hits, on his way to 97 pitches, a season high.
Interestingly, Bieber’s velocity ticked up Friday as he averaged 93 m.p.h. with his four-seam fastball, up from his season average of 92. While still not overpowering, that increase does put more pressure on opposing hitters and may have helped Bieber generate 11 swinging strikes and four strikeouts.
After Bieber’s departure, five Blue Jays relievers combined to cover 4.1 innings while allowing just one run. Mason Fluharty helped Bieber escape the fifth, followed by Chad Dallas, Jeff Hoffman, Tyler Rogers and Louis Varland.
Varland allowed three late hits on the way to San Diego’s final run, but of all those relievers, it’s perhaps Dallas who jumps out the most. A starter in triple-A for most of the season, he hasn’t been used as a leverage reliever until now, but may be called on in these situations more often following the trade of Tommy Nance to the Minnesota Twins.
All told, it was a tidy, drama-free win for a team that still has plenty of work ahead. And it’s exactly what manager John Schneider was hoping for in the final series before next week’s All-Star break.
“Hopefully get a little momentum going,” he said before the series. “You want to continue to swing the bat. You want to try to set the tone offensively and keep it rolling. The biggest thing is not to look ahead to the break. Every game is important. So as nice as the weather is here and with the break kind of looming, you want to continue to take care of business.”