Saturday’s comeback win was followed by another comeback win on Sunday, and now another comeback win last night against the Baltimore Orioles. But we battled them all night.
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A wicked foul ball off the mask didn’t rattle Orioles’ catcher Matt Wieters as he hit a two-run home run that would be the difference in a skin-tight ball game between Baltimore and the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Jays lead the AL East, but the Orioles are just a few games behind.
The game didn’t feature the greatest of starts for the Blue Jays. The hot streak has the Astros just two games out of an AL wild-card berth after falling 6 1/2 back on August 18. Machado is hitting.278 with one homer in 18 career at-bats against Happ.
The two-out walk to Jonathan Schoop was not a happy memory for Grilli, either. “Fastball command can be a little bit hard after throwing so many sliders, so I was looking for something up, something middle, and I was able to get it”.
Once common in baseball, pepper is a drill where a player hits grounders and line drives to a group of fielders who stand approximately 20 feet away. “This guy came off elbow surgery, and now he’s catching nearly every day”.
The AL West-leading Texas Rangers saw off the Seattle Mariners 6-3, while the National League Central-leading Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-7 in 13 innings. Zach Britton got his league-leading 39th save. He also struggled in his previous road start, allowing four runs over six innings to snap a string of 10 consecutive wins.
“To be able to say that we did it, goes a long way. but we know what we’re up against”, he said.
“If you look at who you’re playing and who you’re chasing, and how many games are left, I’m not going to deny that storyline”, Showalter said. “It’s the old cliche”.
For me, the defining moment of the Toronto Blue Jays’ remarkable 2015 campaign isn’t Jose Bautista‘s bat flip, Edwin Encarnacion‘s hat trick, the debuts of Josh Donaldson and Russell Martin, the late-season additions of David Price and Troy Tulowitzki, or Marcus Stroman‘s heroic return from the disabled list.
“Every time we play these guys it’s like that”, Gibbons said. But I think him going back out for the seventh was absolutely the right call. “You come to expect that”.
RAYS 4, RED SOX 3 (at Boston) – Evan Longoria broke a tie with a solo homer in the eighth inning, clearing Fenway Park’s “Green Monster” and rallying Tampa Bay.
Kansas City’s 8-5 win over the New York Yankees leaves the Royals just two games out of an AL wild-card berth. He hit a solo shot Sunday during a 5-0 victory over the Yankees in NY.
Michael Saunders hit a game-tying two-run homer for the Jays in the seventh inning but that was as far as their seven-hit attack would take them.
Jimenez allowed three runs on five hits in 6 2/3 innings and enjoyed facing Toronto ace J.A. Happ despite coming into the game with a 5-11 record and a 6.62 ERA.
“I just wasn’t hitting on my fastball, first and foremost”, he said. “When I was in Colorado, I had to face all the aces, and it’s fun”.
Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher J.A. Happ, left, walks off the field after being relieved in the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles in Baltimore, Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2016.
Scherzer (15-7) allowed two runs and three hits. Kevin Pillar also had a strong game driving in Saunders from second with a single in the second inning and singling again in the fifth to go 2 for 4 in the game.
Baltimore wasted several early scoring chances.
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Jones has missed three games because of a strained left hamstring, and he’s almost ready to return.
