José Soriano and Spencer Miles gave the Blue Jays exactly the kind of win contenders need in September: efficient, low-drama, and easy on the bullpen.
Toronto’s 4-2 victory over the Athletics on Tuesday night mattered in the standings, but the real value came in the way the Blue Jays got there. Kazuma Okamoto and Josh Smith supplied the power with back-to-back home runs, yet the game belonged to Soriano and Miles on the mound.
Soriano worked seven innings and allowed two runs, then Miles came in to cover the final two frames with perfect relief and three strikeouts. John Schneider never had to go back to the rest of his bullpen, which was a huge break for a team that had to throw a bullpen game the next day, Aug.
That kind of outing is the sort of thing managers dream about when they talk about load management. A starter taking the ball deep into the game and only one reliever needing to finish the last six outs is not always available, but when it happens, it changes everything for the next day.
Soriano’s performance was especially notable because of where he started the year. The Blue Jays brought him in from the Angels with the belief they could get more out of him than Los Angeles had, and so far that has played out.
His strikeout rate has gone down, and he has continued to focus on getting hitters to pound meaningless balls into the ground. Schneider summed up the outing by saying, "that's him at his best."
If Toronto keeps getting that version of Soriano, it only helps their playoff odds.
Miles’ path has been even less expected. Rule 5 draft picks usually do not become central pieces for long, and they rarely turn into one of the most dependable arms on a roster.
But Miles has gone well beyond simply being a usable low-leverage option. Against the Athletics, Toronto trusted him with the final six outs because Louis Varland had been used heavily the day before, and Miles answered with his second save of the season.
The Blue Jays took a chance on him in December when they selected him from the Giants, banking on the brief glimpse they got from his healthy work in the 2025 Arizona Fall League. In 8.2 innings there, he struck out 12 batters and walked only one.
Since then, he has delivered a career-high 45 appearances, including six starts, while posting a 2.77 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 81 strikeouts against 21 walks across 87.2 innings. He also entered Wednesday with a 12-outing scoreless streak, giving Toronto one of the clearest Rule 5 success stories in recent memory.
For a team in the middle of a Wild Card chase, that matters. Toronto’s season has been full of injuries, role changes and uneven performances, forcing the club to find outs in unusual places.
Soriano and Miles were never supposed to be central to the playoff picture when the year began, but they’ve become two of the clearest examples of how fast a roster can change. If the Blue Jays end up chasing down a Wild Card spot, Tuesday night will be one of the games people point to.
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Toronto backed the project with a $50,000 donation, while additional support came from the local community, and the build was handled by Synthetic Turf International despite the logistical hurdles that come with working in such a remote location. It is the kind of undertaking that reflects how much the Blue Jays have leaned into grassroots baseball across Canada, even in places where simply getting a field built is an accomplishment. [Read more 🡒]