Donaldson, Smoak power Jays to victory
TORONTO — “Get Right Witcha” by Migos was blasting in the Toronto Blue Jays clubhouse, with team attendants and players quickly packing up after a 10game homestand so they could catch a flight to Chicago for a matinee game against the World Series champion Cubs.
A 7-3 record on that homestand, punctuated by a 5-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday, has energized the team. Justin Smoak’s two-run homer in the eighth inning and Josh Donaldson’s pair of solo shots earlier in the game anchored the Jays’ victory, as Toronto won its third straight series and continued to close in on the second wild-card spot in Major League Baseball’s American League.
“It’s a breath of fresh air to be able to come to the yard expecting to win and getting those breaks that are going our way and sometimes making our own breaks” said Donaldson, who now has six homers in his past five games.
The Blue Jays, Rays and Baltimore Orioles have identical .488 win percentages and are three games back of the Los Angeles Angels for the AL’s final wildcard spot. The Angels were off Thursday. But there are four teams between Toronto, Tampa, Baltimore and the Angels.
“We feel O.K. where we’re at right now, but we still have a lot of room to climb, with a few teams ahead of us,” said Donaldson.
Donaldson’s turnaround in August is a big reason for the Jays’ late-season charge. He missed most of April and May with a calf injury, then struggled in June and July. But nine of his 18 home runs this season have come in the past 17 days, with 21 runs batted in and a .400 batting average.
“He’s been unbelievable,” said Smoak. “I think it was just a matter of time, coming back from injury, to get his timing.”
Smoak’s own 413-foot bomb to deep right drove in Donaldson and restored the lead for the Blue Jays (59-62) after they had coughed it up in the top of the inning.
Chris Rowley pitched five innings for Toronto, striking out three and allowing four hits and five walks in just his second career MLB start. Aaron Loup, Danny Barnes, Tim Mayza and Dominic Leone came in from the bullpen, with Roberto Osuna earning his 32nd save of the season.
Leone (3-0) earned the win as the pitcher of record, when Smoak hit his go-ahead homer.
“You feel better,” said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons about leaving for a road trip on a winning note. “I’ve gotten on that plane many times after a loss, still good food. But there’s no doubt you always want to leave feeling good.”
Chris Archer struck out 10, giving up five hits and three earned runs over seven innings. His impressive performance for Tampa Bay (60-63) was wasted when reliever Tommy Hunter (2-4) gave up Smoak’s home run.
Donaldson put a solo shot over the left-field fence in the first, bringing the sold-out crowd of 46,855 at Rogers Centre to their feet.
Smoak added to that in the third with an RBI single.
Mallex Smith chipped away at Toronto’s lead with a stand-up triple that drove in Adeiny Hechavarria in the top of the fourth.
Archer struck out Blue Jays catcher Miguel Montero in the bottom of the inning, his eighth of the game and 1,000th in his career. He joined Kerry Wood, Tim Lincecum, Rogers Clemens, Stephen Strasburg, Dwight Gooden, Hideo Nomo, Corey Kluber and Randy Johnson with 1,000 Ks in his first 154 games or fewer.