Jays win 7-3, avoid being swept by cellar-dwelling White Sox
Martin, Morales homer as starter Happ has second good outing in a row
The Toronto Blue Jays had a Father’s Day present for the dads among the 46,599 who spent the day at Rogers Centre. And we’re not just talking about the Jason Grilli-inspired barbecue aprons that were handed out.
The Jays took dad back to the good old days of 2015 and 2016, when the pitching was solid and the ball was flying all over the yard, and out of it, in a 7-3 win over the Chicago White Sox, which allowed them to avoid a sweep at the hands of the cellar-dwellers of the American League Central.
The day belonged to two men in particular who have had their share of injuries this year, J.A. Happ and Russell Martin.
Happ had one tough inning. In the top of the fifth after giving up singles to Willie Garcia and Kevan Smith, Yolmer Sanchez singled to score Garcia.
Then Jose Abreu won a battle by hitting a 3-2 pitch for a two-run single just past the outstretched glove of shortstop Troy Tulowitzki which gave the White Sox a 3-0 lead at that point.
“I got it to the edge, up just a little bit,” Happ said. “He hit a ground ball. It was a tough at-bat for sure.”
“In that battle with Abreu, if the ball went a foot or two either way, he was probably out,” manager John Gibbons said.
Otherwise, Happ was solid, with nine strikeouts and no walks.
“It was the second good one in a row for Happ,” Gibbons said. “He really pitched well today.”
“The arm thing ’s behind him. His location is a bit better.”
“I was just trying to do the little things,” Happ said. “We just wanted to grind back and we did in that sixth inning.”
Happ, who recently came off the disabled list, is getting more comfortable with his delivery with each start.
“I felt the last two starts have been a lot better,” he said. “I’ve been throwing in my lanes a little better on each side of the plate. That’s a good sign for me. I’ve also got a little more life in my fastball.”
Danny Barnes allowed very little in his 1.1 innings of work. Closer Roberto Osuna was perfect in the ninth.
Kevin Pillar’s RBI single in the fifth scored Steve Pearce to bring the Jays back to 3-1. Then with two outs in the sixth, Tulowitzki singled, Martin lined a shot to rightcentre field that appeared to go off Garcia but on second look went off the top of the wall and over to tie the game.
“It felt pretty good off the bat,” Martin said. “It wasn’t a bad pitch. It was a cutter-slider away and I definitely barrelled it.”
“It wasn’t a no-doubter, that’s for sure. It makes up for the times where I hit the ball well and it didn’t go.”
Later in the inning, Ryan Goins had a triple to score Pearce and the Jays took a lead they weren’t about to relinquish.
Martin, likely the best oppositefield hitter on the team, is rounding back into form after also being on the disabled list recently.
“Russ has hit a lot of home runs here. He needs some at bats,” Gibbons said. “He was out for 10 days and he really needs those at bats to get going.”
“He’s getting on base all the time. Steadily he’ll get back to his norm. What separates him is his ability to hit which most catchers can’t do.”
Kendrys Morales also homered as part of a 13-hit Jays attack.
“It’s in our DNA. We like the long ball,” Martin said.
Maybe now Jays’ fans will see more of them.