Prodigious bats greet prodigal sons
Travis, Smoak, Morales homer in return of Donaldson, Tulowitzki
In his first at-bat after a 38-game absence, Josh Donaldson barrelled up a fastball and sent it to the gap in left-centre field for a double.
Just like that, after a lengthy layoff with a right calf muscle strain, Donaldson announced: “I’m back.”
Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki’s defence in his return from a hamstring injury was also instrumental as the Jays marked the return of their stars with a 7-6 win over the Texas Rangers before an announced crowd of 40,754 at the Rogers Centre.
But as much as the return of the big guns gave the Jays a more confident, healthy lineup, the booming bats of the players who have stepped up in their absence made the biggest difference Friday night.
Devon Travis, Justin Smoak and Kendrys Morales blasted homers as the Jays sent Texas to its fourth consecutive loss.
Travis continued a torrid month of May with a grand slam in the second inning that put Toronto up 4-1. It was his second career slam.
He added a double in the fourth to tie the club record for two-baggers in the month of May with15, set by Fred Lewis in 2010. Travis also matched the Jays mark for extra-base hits in a month by a second baseman, with 17.
Smoak added a solo blast in the third, his team-leading 11th homer and 30th RBI, while Morales added his ninth homer in the fifth.
Overall, six of Toronto’s seven runs were accounted for via home runs. With that, and with Donaldson and Tulowitzki returning, the team’s identity came back into focus.
The double was Donaldson’s lone hit, while Tulowitzki had a single and a pair of walks — plus seven putouts at short.
The game also featured plenty of boos directed at Texas second baseman Rougned Odor — who famously punched Jose Bautista in the face on a play at second base last season. After going 0-for-3 with a walk, Odor cranked a three-run homer off Jays reliever Joe Smith in the top of the ninth inning to make the score close.
With three homers, Toronto has now clubbed seven in the last two games, including slams by Travis and Ryan Goins.
“We’ve been waiting for this day,” Jays manager John Gibbons said, referring to the returns of Donaldson and Tulowitzki. “This is how we were put together and you have to feel good about it. What our other guys did, holding down the fort . . . we could have disappeared (in the standings) if they didn’t play well.” Tulowitzki concurred. “That’s what makes a team strong, is when core guys go down you have guys that can step in and hold the fort down until the guys come back and that’s exactly what they did,” Tulowitzki said.
“In the long run, that’s going to make us a better team. You’re not going to be healthy the whole year. Come playoff time or crunch time or whatever it may be, you can count on those guys, whether it be pinch-hits, pinch-running or to give some of your guys (a break).
“Those guys did a great job.”