Josh Donaldson and Darwin Barney each hit two-run singles in a five-run seventh inning for the Blue Jays (46-38).
Advertisement
Royals 1B Eric Hosmer and C Salvador Perez will start the All-Star Game for the AL. “It was important to him”, Gibbons added. “He earned it. But this is a priority right here”. The crafty right-hander has a 2.93 ERA, which ranks fifth in the AL, with a 5-3 overall record after 16 starts.
But during this stretch he’ll make an exception, as his next start likely won’t come until the club’s home series against the Seattle Mariners, which begins on July 22. Shields allowed five hits, walked two and struck out three.
Red Sox 12, Rangers 5: Rick Porcello and Boston spotted heavy-hitting Texas four runs in the first inning and then came roaring back to drub the team with the best record in the American League. The game will be broadcast live on FOX with coverage beginning at 4:30 p.m. PT.
Health concerns aside, the all-star nod should confirm to the rest of the baseball world what the Jays already know: The Jays have a tremendous starter in Estrada.
This is Donaldson’s third-straight all-star game appearance after suiting up in a Jays uniform last season and once with the Oakland Atheltics in 2014. “Marco – honestly I think he should’ve been in the Cy Young conversation past year”, says Donaldson. “What he has done, it’s like a magician out there. He’s not throwing 95-100 (mph), like you see some of these guys throwing, but he knows how to pitch, he knows how to change speeds”.
With the Pirates trailing 1-0 in the top of the sixth, Polanco drilled a 2-1 pitch from starter Carlos Martinez 392 feet over the right-field wall.
Sanchez (9-1) allowed one run on three hits while striking out three to extend his winning streak to eight straight decisions. “We’ve talked a bit about that”. Through 17 starts this season, the right-hander has gone 6-4 with a 5.08 ERA and opposing batters have been able to hit.
“I felt like it was kind of a redemption year for me, not that it gave me that extra drive to work that much harder or anything like that, but playing for the Blue Jays was a dream of mine growing up”, the Victoria native said.
All-star-in-waiting Saunders served as the Jays’ designated hitter on Wednesday, while Junior Lake, who came in with a lifetime.
Josh Donaldson is heading to the All-Star Game in San Diego but doesn’t want to take part in the Home Run Derby. Estrada generally doesn’t throw side sessions between outings, preferring to maintain the feeling he had in his most recent start and, as he puts it, “not waste too many bullets”. Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki has just six hits in 31 career at-bats against the right-hander, but three of those hits were home runs.
Advertisement
I’m not unhappy that we won’t be seeing him this series, but I’m hoping that it isn’t anything worse than a strain.
