Pearce walks it off again
Toronto left fielder hits second walk-off grand slam in five days
TORONTO — From absolutely nothing, the Toronto Blue Jays came up with one of the most improbable wins in club history on Sunday.
Steve Pearce hit his second walkoff grand slam in the past five days (and became just the third major leaguer in history with two walkoff grand slams in a season) to cap off a seven-run ninth inning to beat the Los Angeles Angels 11-10.
Half of the 46,852 at the Rogers Centre witnessed the largest ninth-inning comeback in club history, while the other half were in their cars, or on public transit kicking themselves for leaving early.
Matt Dermody, who pitched the final three innings, got the win while Bud Norris, who got the loss, will probably be thinking about this one for a long time.
The Jays (49-56) avoided a sweep by the Angels (51-55) as they head out of town for matchups in Chicago and Houston this week. Also, they got a chance to think about something other than Monday’s 4 p.m. non-roster trade deadline.
Trailing 10-4, Brooks Pounders came in to pitch for the Angels and gave up a single to Ryan Goins. Kevin Pillar then clubbed his 12th home run of the season. After Rob Refsynder doubled to left, and Pounders was pulled for Norris, who immediately gave up a single to Ezequiel Carrera. Rusell Martin then hit a slow grounder to third that scored Refsnyder, pulling the Jays to within three with no one out. After Justin Smoak grounded out to advance the runners, Kendrys Morales drew a walk to load the bases with Darwin Barney coming in as a pinch runner. Then, with the count 2-0, Pearce drilled Norris’ final offering to left field.
“You don’t see that coming,” manager John Gibbons said. “At some point it’s just a game of survival, trying not to have to use certain guys in the bullpen to finish a game.”
The rest of the afternoon was not as pretty. Starter Cesar Valdez, who earlier this week earned his first major league win since 2010, lasted only two innings after giving up seven runs.
Valdez was roughed up early as Albert Pujols hit a two-run homer over the wall in left centre, scoring Mike Trout. Carrera answered in the bottom of the inning with his eighth home run of the year. The solo shot was hit into the second deck just inside the right-field foul pole.
The real damage came in the third. After Kaleb Cowart hit a triple, which Carrera misplayed, Yunel Escobar doubled him home. After Valdez intentionally walked Trout, Pujols singled to left to score Escobar. Kole Calhoun then hit one to second, but Refsnyder was unable to get the ball to Goins in time to get to the second-base bag, leaving the bases loaded. Andrelton Simmons then slashed a double to left, scoring Trout and Pujols. That ended Valdez’ day as Aaron Loup came in. Ben Revere then singled to score Calhoun and the Angels had a 7-1 lead.
The Jays battled back in the bottom of the inning. Martin, playing third for a resting Josh Donaldson, singles moving Carrera to third. Smoak then singled scoring Carrera. Martin would score on a sacrifice fly by Morales. Smoak then scored on a sacrifice by Miguel Motero.
The Angels would nearly score again in the fourth but Mike Bolsinger, in for Loup after he gave up two singles, got Simmons to fly out to shallow left.
In the fifth, Revere got on base on a fielder’s choice then went to third when a throw by Montreo missed Refsnyder at second. He scored on a sacrifice fly by Martin Maldonado. Then in the sixth, Pujols hit his second home run of the day, a no-doubt line shot to left. It was the first multi-homer game for the Angels designated hitter this season.
Matt Dermody came in for the Jays in the seventh and finished well even though he gave up a run when Shane Robinson scored in the ninth off a sacrifice fly from Luis Valbuena. Los Angeles meanwhile got shutout relief out of Blake Parker, Cam Bedrosian, and David Hernandez.