Missed bunt in eighth proves costly for Jays
ATLANTA 9 TORONTO 5
TORONTO — Despite a pair of doubles earlier in the game, Devon Travis was unable to execute when the Blue Jays needed him the most on Tuesday.
Travis was signalled to bunt with two on, no outs and Toronto trailing 6-5 in the eighth inning, but was eventually struck out by Braves reliever Arodys Vizcaino. Darwin Barney followed by lining into an inning-ending double play.
Atlanta added three runs in the ninth to defeat the Blue Jays 9-5.
“It’s nice to walk up to the plate with two doubles or two hits — whatever the case may be,” said Travis, who finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs. “When you’re told to do a job though, especially bunting, that’s important for this team, it wins games. I’ve got to do my job, it’s that simple.”
Toronto manager John Gibbons said that the rationale behind the move was to get the runners over and create a better scoring opportunity. “Well, we’re down a run, want to get the guy to third base, contact, trying run, you get a big hit, you take the lead,” Gibbons said.
Dansby Swanson hit a go-ahead home run off Danny Barnes (0-1) in the seventh inning to help the Braves (15-21) earn their fourth win in five games. Jose Ramirez (2-1) allowed an earned run on two hits over 12⁄3 innings for the win.
Toronto (17-23) erased a 5-3 deficit in the sixth on an RBI single from Barney and a weak grounder from Ezequiel Carrera, which scored Travis. The Blue Jays have dropped back-to-back games after having their season-high five-game winning streak snapped in Monday’s loss.
Matt Kemp added to the Braves’ lead in the ninth with a two-run double off Roberto Osuna. Nick Markakis followed up with an RBI single, stretching Atlanta’s lead to 9-5.
Freddie Freeman gave the Braves a 5-2 lead in the fifth, taking Marco Estrada’s offering over the wall in centre field for a two-run shot and his 14th home run of the season.
“We’ve been playing a lot better baseball the last few games. Hopefully, we can continue that at home,” Freeman said.
“We’ve been swinging the bats well and the pitching is coming around. We’re all starting to play together finally.”
Estrada gave up two runs in the first inning while throwing 34 pitches.
The two teams head to Atlanta on Wednesday for a quick two-game series.