Addison Barger doubles up — three times — to lead Blue Jays past sizzling Mariners

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When he was one of the Blue Jays’ last cuts out of spring training despite a strong month at the plate in Florida, Addison Barger took his .367 Grapefruit League batting average to Buffalo and tried to make the best of a disappointing situation.

Six weeks later, the Jays infielder is getting the chance to remain on the Canadian side of the Ontario/New York border.

Barger banged out three doubles on Friday night — the first three-hit game of his big league career — helping his team to just enough offence to record an at-times tense 6-3 win over the Mariners in the first of a three-game weekend series in Seattle.

Barger became just the third player in the majors to have a trio of doubles in a game this season and six of his 10 hits this season have been for extra bases. That power should get a chance to continue with more playing time, a situation Jays manager John Schneider has vowed will happen going forward.

The victory cooled off a Mariners team that moved to first place in the American League West with a recent 10-3 run. It was the second consecutive win for the Jays, who improved to 18-20.

That Barger outburst was welcome for a Toronto offence looking to build some momentum. It was also impressive, particularly the third one that came off his bat at 117 miles per hour, the hardest-hit ball of Barger’s young MLB career.

Barger’s first double came in the first inning and was a clutch two RBI effort driving in Bo Bichette and Vlad Guerrero Jr. to get the Jays out to an early lead. Another double in the third resulted in his team’s third run of the night when Barger was brought home by an RBI single from Ernie Clement.

With recent demotions of Will Wagner and Alan Roden, Barger figures to get more opportunities to play and stick with the big team. Nights like Friday – plus his bullet of an arm which serves him well both at third (where he played on Friday) and in the outfield – won’t hurt the cause.

GOLDEN VARSHO

The highlight hits just keep on coming for Jays centre fielder Daulton Varsho who made yet another spectacular catch at the wall.

The fifth-inning masterpiece involved a perfectly timed leap at the deepest part of centre field and a catch over the wall that appeared to rob the Mariners’ Ben Williamson of a home run.

OFFENCE CHECKS IN

With a six-run output on Friday combined with an 8-5 victory over the Angels the previous night in Anaheim, the 14 combined runs marked the largest two-game total for the Jays this season.

While that’s not exactly blowout level production — and after scoring a pair in the third inning the Jays didn’t add another until the eighth to allow the Mariners to stick around — at least it’s a move in the right direction.

Adding to the Barger burst, Nathan Lukes hit a solo homer in the third and the Jays added an insurance run in the ninth when a Varsho sac fly to left field brought Tyler Heineman home. Nothing comes easy for this team, however and Friday was the latest example. Seemingly cruising with a 5-0 lead after three, things became infinitely more interesting than necessary.

DISASTER AVERTED

An all-too-familiar horror inning was unfolding for the Jays in the bottom of the eighth as a two-run lead once again felt precarious for the back end of a bullpen that has wobbled over the past week.

Reliever Yimi Garcia, who had been struggling of late, issued a single and a pair of walks to load the bases with Mariners and nobody out and another late-game collapse was very much in play.

After Vlad Guerrero Jr. made a great play to knock down a hard hit ball from Miles Mastrobuoni and then made a bullet throw for the force out at home, Garcia struck out Leody Taveras and Dylan Moore to end a 28-pitch odyssey.

That set the stage for closer Jeff Hoffman to come in to deal a relatively stress-free ninth to record his eighth save of the season.

The Jays got just enough from starter Kevin Gausman, who allowed seven hits (the most he’s surrendered this season), over 5.1 innings.

The Mariners’ 7 hits are the most Gausman has allowed in a game this season and the most he has allowed since Sept. 13 vs. STL (9 H).

SLEEPY IN SEATTLE

A confluence of factors led to a noticeable shrinkage in the normally robust Canadian contingent that makes the trek to the Pacific Northwest for the Jays annual visit.

Obviously there is a reluctance for Canadians to travel across the border given the political climate which likely would have kept thousands in their B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan homes.

But having the popular weekend land on a weekend early in May rather than mid-summer as is usually the case wouldn’t have helped, either. Nor would the aftertaste of the Jays last-place 2024 season.