Blue Jays survive 12-inning marathon in Miami after blowing three one-run leads

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In the blink of an eye, an excellent start from Jose Berrios didn’t seem that way when he gave up three straight hits in the seventh inning to end his day on Saturday afternoon.

In a flash, a 4-0 Toronto lead disappeared in the late innings when the host Miami Marlins showed a pesky edge to draw even … then did it again, and again before the Blue Jays pulled out a 7-6 win to maintain their five-game bulge atop the AL East.

After close Jeff Hoffman blew a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the ninth — which doesn’t inspire confidence with stressful games of far greater significance awaiting — the Jays scored single runs in each of the 10th, 11th and 12th innings.

But it was only in the 12th that Brendon Little, the Jays’ sixth reliever of the day, held the Marlins off the scoresheet. But he needed a heads-up play from shortstop Bo Bichette, who fielded a leadoff grounder and caught Otto Lopez trying to dive back into second.

One inning earlier, after giving up back-to-back singles to tie the game 6-6, Tommy Nance — who got two outs in the 10th to get the Jays out of a jam — induced a pop-up and a double-play grounder to send it to the 12th.

That’s when Bichette singled home George Springer from third with one out for his fourth hit of the day and the game-winning run.

The following are three takeaways from a marathon game in which Springer homered for the fourth time in his seventh game back from an extended concussion layoff as he and Bichette combined for seven of the Jays’ 11 hits.

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BERRIOS NEEDED THAT

Coming off a start that saw Jose Berrios give up 10 hits and six earned runs in just 4.1 innings against Texas, the pressure was on the veteran right-hander to rediscover his form.

Berrios turned in a fine outing Saturday, but it would have looked a lot better had he not come out for the seventh inning.

To that point, he was cruising with a 4-0 lead, allowing just one harmless third-inning single, zero walks and striking out eight.

But Berrios would get pulled after giving up three consecutive one-out singles, cutting the lead to 4-1.

Louis Varland came in with runners on second and third and though the Marlins would score twice more in the inning, the Jays entered the eighth with a one-run edge.

ROTATION FLEXIBILITY

By the sounds of it, manager John Schneider will turn over every stone in getting the most out of a rotation that is deeper now with Shane Bieber entrenched in the mix.

Prior to Saturday’s first pitch, the Jays skipper was asked about the team’s rotation plans. The word ‘flexible’ became a common theme as Schneider said he plans to mix and match while taking advantage of the team’s off-days to provide the starters with some added rest.

In Bieber’s debut with the Jays on Friday night, Eric Lauer was warming up in the bullpen, a sign many viewed as a way for the left-hander to ease his way back into a long relief role.

But Schneider confided Saturday that Lauer will start on Wednesday at home in the series finale against the Minnesota Twins.

Lauer’s most recent start came last Saturday at home against Texas in an 8-2 Toronto win.
Bieber, according to Schneider, is projected to make his next start Friday against Milwaukee in his first home start.

JUNK MAIL

The Jays went up against an underrated right-hander in Janson Junk, whose surname evokes all kinds of images.

In truth, he’s a good one and, heading into Saturday, had given the Marlins at least five innings in each of his previous nine starts, including a 5-3 win over the Bosox at Fenway Park earlier this week.

On Saturday, Junk retired the first six Jays he faced before Springer singled home Nathan Lukes who led off with a double off the wall in right.

Through five innings, Junk held the Jays to four hits and zero walks.
He would leave the game because of arm discomfort with two outs in the sixth inning, but not before Alejandro

Kirk doubled home Addison Barger to make it 2-0.

Junk, 29, wound up being charged with three earned runs.

UP NEXT

A potentially enticing mound matchup for Sunday’s series finale (1:40 p.m.) will feature Kevin Gausman opposing Eury Perez. Gausman is a known entity. Perez, a right-hander, has been great pitching at home where, in five starts, he has allowed just six earned runs — none coming off the home run ball — while posting 29 strikeouts.

fzicarelli@postmedia.com