DONALDSON STAYS HOT TO LEAD JAYS TO WIN OVER RAYS
Third baseman smacks two home runs as Toronto heads out for road trip on a high
Josh Donaldson’s bat is so hot right now, they should store it in a fire resistant bag.
The Bringer of Rain smashed two home runs on Thursday afternoon, his 19th and 20th of the season, to lead the Blue Jays to a 5-3 triumph over the Tampa Bay Rays at the Rogers Centre. The Jays have now won three straight series for the first time since May 23-31.
Both of Donaldson’s blasts were solo jobs. He was also on base in the bottom of the eighth when Justin Smoak hit a two-run bomb to right centre to break a 3-3 tie and lift the Jays to victory.
“He’s been unbelievable and I think it was just a matter of time until he came back from injury and got his timing back,” Smoak said of Donaldson. “The last two weeks has been really impressive and honestly, it’s something that last few years that you just expect. So it’s good for him and good for us he’s on the tear he is.”
Smoak’s homer off Tampa reliever Tommy Hunter was his team-leading 33rd of the season and the shot ruined a solid outing by Rays starter Chris Archer, who went seven innings and gave up three runs on five hits and struck out 10. The Jays went 7-3 on their recent homestand and are maintaining hope that somehow they’ll be able to pass the seven teams that are ahead or tied with them in the wild card standings.
“Obviously, winning always helps, but at the same time we feel like we should have been doing this all year,” said Smoak. “It’s just a matter of a last month and half to keep going out and doing it and look up at the end of the year and see where we’re at.”
Donaldson hit a first inning line drive homer over the wall in left and a solo blast to centre in the fifth and has homered 11 times in his last 19 games and six in his last five. It was Donaldson’s third multi-home run game this season and 13th of his career.
Toronto pitcher Chris Rowley, making his second start as a Blue Jay, went five innings and gave up only four hits and two runs but walked five. He benefited from some solid defence including a nice over-the-shoulder catch by Smoak in the first.
Defence bailed Rowley out again in the second. With Wilson Ramos standing at third with one out, Mallex Smith hit a grounder to Ryan Goins at short who fielded it and fired it to Miguel Montero at home, who tagged Ramos out. Earlier in the inning, Steve Pearce made a solid defensive play to keep a Ramos liner down the left field line a single.
Archer had some bad luck in the third. He struck out Darwin Barney on a bouncer that got away from Ramos, allowing Barney to get to first. The next batter, Nori Aoki, smacked a shot off Archer that rolled between first and second, allowing Barney to get to third. Smoak punched a single to right to score Barney, putting the Jays up 2-0.
The Rays got on the board in the fourth when Smith belted a triple to centre which scored Adeiny Hechavarria from first. Archer reached a milestone in the fourth when he struck out Montero, the 1,000th K of his career.
Tampa tied it 3-3 in the eighth with reliever Dominic Leone pitching when Longoria hit a two-out double off the centre field wall that Ezequiel Carrera just missed, scoring Peter Bourjos from second.
Roberto Osuna pitched the ninth and picked up his 32nd save.
The Jays now embark on a six-game road trip starting with three against the Chicago Cubs. Gibbons said it’s always nice starting a road trip after a win.
“There’s no doubt you always want to leave feeling good,” said Gibbons. “The lows in this business last longer than the highs, I know that for a fact. I’ve gotten on that plane many times after a loss ... but it’s still good food you know.”