Friday night’s game against the Boston Red Sox was a microcosm of what’s been going wrong with the Blue Jays this month: inconsistent starting pitching from such starters as Marco Estrada, a lack of timely hits/power outage, and, perhaps most troubling of all, the kind of shaky defence you’d expect in a weekend co-ed softball “fun” tournament.
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As Aaron Sanchez gets set to face Red Sox hurler Clay Buchholz, Sunday’s rubber-match looms large.
When they are outhit, the Blue Jays are 9-48.
But that’s exactly where the Blue Jays manager was Saturday morning, kicking back in his office while his charges took it upon themselves to organize a no-coaches-allowed gathering ahead of the second game of a pivotal series against the Boston Red Sox.
J.A. Happ got his 18th win, Melvin Upton Jr. hit a two-run homer and the Toronto Blue Jays snapped a four-game losing streak by beating Boston 3-2 on Saturday, closing within one game of the AL East leader.
Bryant smacked his 37th homer off Joe Musgrove to the seats in left field to put the Cubs up 2-0 in the fifth inning. “We haven’t seen that too often”.
Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Rich Hill was inexplicably pulled after seven innings with a ideal game still in tact.
Kelly Johnson’s pinch-hit double drove in the go-ahead run in New York’s four-run eighth inning, and the Mets rallied from a four-run deficit to beat the Atlanta Braves 6-4 for their sixth straight win.
“Obviously, if I could do it again I probably wouldn’t go”, Travis said. “This team is so good offensively that they can get you deep in counts and raise the pitch count quick if you’re not sharp”.
As of Saturday, the Blue Jays have 22 games left. Toronto has a one-game lead on the Detroit Tigers and Baltimore Orioles in the battle for the first AL wild-card spot. Jose Fernandez struck out 14 and gave up three hits over just seven shutout innings as the Marlins ended the Dodgers’ five-game winning streak.
Hanley Ramirez ripped a three-run homer while the Bosox scored six times in the seventh to break it open.
Porcello, meanwhile, was effective at mixing speeds and keeping the Blue Jays off balance.
Pitcher Rick Porcello allowed two runs and six hits to become the first 20-game victor in the majors.
Nelson Cruz had three hits and three RBIs and Kyle Seager hit his 28th home run to help the Mariners to their seventh win in eight games against the A’s this season. I’m very proud of that. At the same time it’s collective.
“I play this game with a lot of energy, sometimes that can be a problem”, Travis said. “So it’s thanks to 25 guys – or 40 now”.
OAKLAND, Calif. – Right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma pitched 6 2/3 strong innings for his career-high-tying 15th victory, and Norichika Aoki and Mike Zunino hit solo home runs as Seattle defeated Oakland at the Oakland Coliseum.
Happ (18-4) gave up two runs on four hits and also refused to get into specifics beyond that the players-only meeting was “overwhelmingly positive”. He allowed one-out singles to Kevin Pillar and Devon Travis.
“I’m glad we had it”, said Martin. “You can’t hang your head”, he said. “It just wasn’t our day”.
An inning after allowing a one-run lead to slip away, the Reds regained it by playing small ball in the ninth. It was Navarro’s 1,000th career game.
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Russell Martin, on the grind as he plays through left knee pain which is exacerbated by the torque of his swing, was back in the lineup after sitting for Friday’s series opener. Rodon (7-8) fanned Paulo Orlando with the bases loaded on his 116th pitch to end the sixth inning and move to 5-0 in his last seven starts.
