Morales flexes muscles with three homers
When the Toronto Blue Jays signed Kendrys Morales in the off season, the mission was to have a slugger who could take advantage of the hitter-friendly ballparks in the American League East.
That, and at least on an occasional basis, make fans forget about the departure of Edwin Encarnacion.
For one night anyway, the big Cuban did just that and more, seizing the opportunity offered by the friendly dimensions of Camden Yards. In fact, in the Jays’ 11-8 win over the Orioles, Morales had a career night, belting three home runs and a total of seven RBIs to help his team snap a four-game losing streak.
The win also doused the Orioles’ seven-game winning run, a notable achievement given the Jays are left to essentially play the role of spoiler rather than division rivals in the inconsequential final month-and-change of the 2017 season.
With a loud crack of his bat each time, Morales connected on blasts of 417, 430 and 396 feet. The offensive outburst increased his season total to 25, making it the third most productive season of his career in the home run department.
The seven RBIs, however, were a career high for Morales and singlehandedly woke up a Jays offence that had scored one run or fewer in four of its seven previous games.
It was always going to be a difficult assignment for Morales replacing the popular Encarnacion. And it hasn’t helped that he’s struggled at times this season. But on Thursday, Morales flexed with the power the Jays saw in him when he was signed to a three-year, $33-million contract.
While it was the ninth multi-homer game for a Jays player this season, he was first with the hat trick in 2017. Overall, 17 different Jays players have had three in a game.
The Morales outburst helped overcome a so-so effort by starter Marco Estrada, who allowed 10 hits and six runs, including a pair of home runs, in five innings of work.
Of course, almost nothing comes easy for the Jays. Despite the booming bat of Morales — who essentially staked them to an 11-6 lead — they still had to sweat it out. The Orioles scored two more in the eighth and stranded runners on second and third.
Once they escaped that, however, Roberto Osuna finished up with a 1-2-3 inning to earn his 35th save of the season.
HELP ON THE WAY
The Jays won’t waste any time taking advantage of the Sept. 1 roster expansion, which could see a handful of players get some extended playing time over the final month of the season.
The first arrivals will be catcher Luke Maile and outfielder Teoscar Hernandez with some pitching help expected to be added as well.