Blue Jays left fielder Melvin Upton Jr. hit a two-run triple in the bottom of the eighth inning which Minnesota Twins right fielder Max Kepler miss-played, resulting in a dramatic 8-7 comeback victory for Toronto.
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After Encarnacion homered in the sixth to make it 5-3, Plouffe homered off Bo Schultz in the seventh.
The right fielder’s original mistake was diving to try to catch the sinking drive instead of letting it drop for a single. Knowing that a single would allow Toronto to tie the game, Kepler dove for the ball, only to see it bounce past him all the way to the right field wall.
Jason Grilli (5-3) worked one inning for the win and Roberto Osuna finished for his 29th save. Encarnacion hit his 36th homer and leads the AL with 105 RBIs. Third baseman Trevor Plouffe hit a seventh-inning homer off Schultz. Minnesota has been tagged for at least eight runs in four straight games.
Eddie Rosario took over in center field for the Twins in the second inning. In 11 outings with Toronto this season, he is 0-0 with a 415 ERA after allowing one home run and two runs Saturday in the 8-7 win over the Minnesota Twins.
After the switch-hitting catcher connected, the crowd of 38,843 emphatically chanted his name.
Padres 3, Marlins 1: Rookie Luis Perdomo benefited from a team-record six double plays and pitched a six-hitter for San Diego’s first complete game this year.
Starlin Castro and Aaron Hicks also homered as the Yankees won their fourth in a row.
“I think they’re all going to be this way from here on out”, added Grilli of the emotion-filled game.
The Blue Jays handed the Twins their ninth straight loss on Saturday.
Tommy Layne (1-1) pitched a scoreless inning for the win. Dylan Bundy (7-5) was the loser.
Gibson took the loss on Tuesday when he allowed seven hits, four walks and five runs in five innings against the Detroit Tigers.
Jays’ closer Roberto Osuna came in to pitch a ideal ninth inning to preserve the victory while picking up his 29th save. He extended his hit streak to six games and has hit safely in 13 of his last 15 games.
Ivan Nova threw six sharp innings before leaving early because of a hurting left hamstring, and Pittsburgh hit three solo homers to rally for its eighth straight road victory. Toronto’s Edwin Encarnacion also homered Saturday to improve his series totals to four RBIs and as many runs scored heading into a clash with Sunday starter Kyle Gibson, against whom he has also went deep in a small career sample size.TV: 1:07 p.m. ET, FSN North (Minnesota), TVA Sports, Sportsnet (Toronto) PITCHING MATCHUP: Twins RH Kyle Gibson (5-8, 5.09 ERA) vs.
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NL MVP Bryce Harper was ejected in the 10th after getting called out on strikes. Stroman induced a groundout and a pop out before Dozier struck with a two-run double to make it 5-0 for the Twins. Plouffe led off the inning with a single, and was driven home by Miguel Sano’s single two batters later.
