Blue Jays rally to beat Mets in Bautista’s return to Toronto
TORONTO — It was just like old times for former Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista on Tuesday afternoon at Rogers Centre.
He stepped to the plate in batting practice and casually uncorked a rocket over the fence like he did on countless occasions in a Toronto uniform.
The only difference was this time he was sporting an orange-brimmed New York Mets hat and an unfamiliar No. 11 on his sleeve. Bautista, who’s 37 now and in the twilight of his big-league career, returned to Toronto for the first time since his 10-year run with the team ended after the 2017 season.
“It feels great, it feels like nothing’s changed,” he said before the Mets dropped an 8-6 decision to the Blue Jays. “It’s a good feeling to be back. Obviously a lot of emotions and a lot of memories.”
Bautista appeared misty-eyed after a pre-game tribute was shown on the stadium video screen.
Batting second in the New York lineup, Bautista tapped catcher Russell Martin’s shin pads before his first at-bat. He waved to the Toronto dugout and raised his hat to the crowd, which greeted him with a standing ovation.
“The standing O when I came up to the plate was very classy,” Bautista said. “You don’t get to do many of those in your career, so I tried to enjoy it as much as I could.”
Bautista’s familiar walkout track — Usher’s “OMG” — was played for the occasion.
Fans even chimed in with a “Jo-se! Jo-se! Jo-se!” chant for good measure.
Bautista drew a walk in his first plate appearance and scored on an Asdrubal Cabrera home run.
He had mixed results in right field, making a nice sliding catch to rob Martin of a hit in the second inning but also misplaying a Randal Grichuk liner in the seventh for a two-base error.
Bautista singled in the ninth to finish the game 1-for-2 at the plate, with three walks.
Bautista made his big-league debut in 2004 but really blossomed in 2010 with Toronto. He hit 54 homers that year and drove in 124 runs to kick off a run of six straight all-star appearances.
His list of highlights is a long one — none bigger than the memorable bat-flip homer in 2015 — and he helped anchor the teams that made back-to-back American League Championship Series appearances in 2015 and 2016.
The hero on Tuesday was Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who hit a two-run, tiebreaking homer as the Blue Jays rallied to beat the Mets after Toronto starter Marco Estrada left early with a hip injury. Yangervis Solarte had tied the game with a three-run shot for Toronto.