Alek Manoah kept trending in the right direction with triple-A Buffalo on Tuesday night.
The right-hander was tagged for three unearned runs over 5.1 innings while recording five strikeouts and two walks, facing the Pittsburgh Pirates’ triple-A affiliate.
The lone blemish came on a three-run shot in the bottom of the first to catcher Rafael Flores. Manoah recorded three strikeouts in the inning, but the leadoff man reached via error and Cam Devanney was plunked by a 2-1 sinker before Flores sent a first-pitch fastball over the left-field wall.
Manoah recovered and ended his night on exactly 85 pitches (50 strikes), which was his target heading into the contest after throwing 75 his last time out.
This marks his third outing with the Bisons since retaking the mound earlier this summer. The 27-year-old underwent UCL reconstruction surgery in 2024 after a five-game return to the big leagues, where he posted a 3.70 ERA over 24.1 innings.
Last week, he cruised through 4.2 innings, giving up one earned run, striking out four and walking two against the New York Yankees’ affiliate.
Manoah finished as a Cy Young Award runner-up in 2022 before struggling through 2023, where he shuttled between the minors and majors.
His 30-day rehab clock began with a single-A start on July 22 but was given one of the three 10-day extensions allowed for pitchers returning from Tommy John surgery.
Since his dominant 2022 season, Manoah has thrown only 111.2 innings for the Blue Jays, holding a 5.40 ERA.