First baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and catcher Alejandro Kirk started, while right-hander Alek Manoah, second baseman Santiago Espinal and closer Jordan Romano were reserves. Here’s how the Blue Jays performed. Manoah The Blue Jays sophomore caught William Contreras looking at strike three with a knee change after entering the game in the second inning. Stepping on Kirk, Manoah then hit Joc Pederson on a heated foul. After hitting Jeff McNeil on the leg, Manoah hit a third strike on a swing by Ronald Acuna Jr. Manoah also had a microphone on him during his innings. warrior jr. The Blue Jays, facing NL starter Clayton Kershaw in the first as a cleanup hitter, relied on a fielder’s choice to ground out to end the inning. Guerrero then flew out to center in the fourth while facing Tony Gonsolin before leaving the game. Kirk Toronto’s most consistent player this year had the honor of catching the ceremonial first pitch from fellow Mexican Fernando Valenzuela before the game began. Winning ninth, Kirk was pulled away by Joe Musgrove in third when he broke his watch in second place. Kirk went 0-for-2 when he grounded out in the fourth against Gonsolin. He was replaced by Jose Trevino in the fifth. Spinal The second baseman entered the game in the bottom of the fourth. Espinal grounded out to shortstop Dansby Swanson in the seventh and walked in the ninth. Romano The closer did not play in the All-Star Game after pitching for the Blue Jays on Saturday and Sunday.
