Trevor Richards and Toronto’s bullpen delivered after Alek Manoah departed because of elbow discomfort, and the Blue Jays beat the slumping Chicago White Sox 3-1 on Wednesday night.
With two out and a runner on third in the second inning, Manoah was checked on by manager John Schneider and a trainer after throwing a 91.4 mph sinker to Dominic Fletcher for a ball. The big right-hander then departed after a short discussion on the mound.
“Felt it after my start in Detroit and tried to do everything I can with the training staff through the week,” Manoah said Wednesday night. “Threw a bullpen a couple of days ago, kind of felt fine. I felt like I was able to go out there and compete and give the team a chance, and just wasn’t able to.”
Manoah is expected to get an MRI on Thursday.
“Yeah, it sucks,” Manoah told Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi. “But I have my faith in God and I dealt with a lot of (expletive) this past year to get back to this point. And the game’s tough, you know?”
Richards (1-0) came in and pitched 3 1/3 innings of one-hit ball. Tim Mayza, Zach Pop and Yimi García each got three outs before Jordan Romano earned his eighth save in nine chances, finishing a four-hitter.
Korey Lee hit his fifth homer off Romano with two out in the ninth, but left fielder Daulton Varsho finished the game with a solid running catch on Paul DeJong’s drive.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa drove in two runs for Toronto, which completed a 4-3 trip.
The White Sox have lost a season-high eight straight games and 12 of 13 overall. With sweeps by Baltimore (four games) and Toronto (three), it was the first winless homestand of at least seven games in franchise history.
Chris Flexen (2-5) issued a season-high five walks in five innings, but he struck out six while limiting Toronto to two runs and four hits.
Bo Bichette hit an RBI single in the third for the Blue Jays, and Kiner-Falefa singled in George Springer in the fourth. Kiner-Falefa also drove in Springer with an unusual 8-4 fielder’s choice in the sixth.
Chicago scored a total of four runs in the series and 18 times overall on the seven-game homestand.
Andrew Vaughn hit a leadoff double and advanced to third on a Manoah wild pitch in the second. But Lee popped out, DeJong struck out swinging, and Fletcher lined to right.