Russell Martin hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth inning to help the Toronto Blue Jays overcome a poor start by 17-game victor J.A. Happ and avoid a three-game sweep by beating the Tampa Bay Rays 5-3 on Sunday.
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The big outburst came against Estrada (8-7) after he allowed just two singles in the first five innings.
That moment in the first inning, when Josh Donaldson launched an 85-mph changeup into Tropicana Field’s B-ring catwalk was one of them and that moment two pitches later when Edwin Encarnacion drove a loud double into the left-center field gap to plate Donaldson was another.
With the win, Toronto has a one-game lead in the AL East over Boston, which lost 1-0 at Oakland. Luke Maile hit a solo homer and Kevin Kiermaier had an RBI triple off Francisco Liriano before Brad Miller added a two-run shot against Ryan Tepera in a four-run seventh that made it 8-2.
The Jays trailed 7-1 going into the ninth and rallied for four runs but could not fight all the way back. Tampa Bay is also 2-8 in Archer’s last 10 home starts and 1-4 in Archer’s last five Sunday starts. “It’s just frustrating to not get the results I want to get”.
The Blue Jays did say Liriano’s move to the bullpen was temporary, but considering their need for a lefty in the bullpen, and Brett Cecil‘s struggles, I’d expect Liriano to make another relief appearance at some point this season. It looked like it could be a long night for the fans and the Rays’ bullpen, but once Cobb settled down, he only threw 31 during the final three innings. He allowed four straight singles to plate a run, then walked in a run before a three-run double ended his night.
Estrada gave up five runs and seven hits in five-plus innings, striking out six. First off, the Jays are still playing a team that is still 19 games under.500 entering play on Saturday.
There was a video tribute on the scoreboard for Toronto Of Melvin Upton Jr., who played at Tropicana Field for the first time since his final game with Tampa Bay on October 3, 2012.
ANGELS 4, MARINERS 2: Albert Pujols and C.J. Cron hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning and six relievers combined to shut down host Seattle after starter Matt Shoemaker was hit in the head with a line drive.
In the seventh inning, with one out, Troy Tulowitzki singled to right-centre and that ended Archer’s day. He yielded a broken-bat single to Logan Morrison, then struck out Nick Franklin and Corey Dickerson in succession. He started a throwing program three weeks ago.
Who could have? It had been 704 days since Cobb last pitched in a big-league game, after all, and after compiling an 0-3 record and 6.65 ERA in eight minor-league rehab starts, the best the Rays could really hope for was that Cobb walk away from his return healthy and encouraged.
Facing the Toronto Blue Jays lineup is never an easy task for any Major League Baseball starter and they had Cobb working early.
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As for the Rays, they’ll be putting RHP Chris Archer in Sunday’s starting role. David Wells won 20 in 2000. In 26 starts and a 17-4 record, Happ holds a 3.23 ERA with a 1.15 WHIP in 161.2 innings.
