Trio of blasts stake Jays to win over Os
The Blue Jays got the long ball out of the way early on Friday night.
In a crucial game against the American League East Division- leading Baltimore Orioles at the Rogers Centre, the Jays then went on to scratch out a 6-5 victory.
The win, paced by three home runs in the first inning and a quality start from Marco Estrada, put the Jays a half- game behind the Orioles. Toronto, which improved to 12- 5 at home in July, can take the division lead with a victory against the Orioles on Saturday afternoon.
Baltimore has lost four in a row for the second time in two weeks.
The Jays, after an off- day on Thursday, now have won six of 11 against the Orioles this season. Toronto i mproved to 58- 45, while Baltimore dropped to 58-44.
Before a crowd of 46,112, Estrada provided the Jays with their 65th quality start of 2016, tying them with the Washington Nationals for most in the majors.
Estrada ( 6- 4) went six innings, scattering five hits and giving up four runs (three earned) while walking two and striking out six.
The Jays were up 6-4 when Manny Machado homered on reliever Jason Grilli’s first pitch of the eighth. Grilli got the next three batters out, fanning Matt Wieters to end the inning.
Joaquin Benoit pitched the seventh for the Jays. Roberto Osuna came on in the ninth and recorded his 22nd save. Osuna, who faced four batters, has not given up a run in his past 11 appearances.
Orioles s t arter Kevin Gausman ( 2- 8) was gone after three innings. He gave up six hits and six earned runs, walked three and struck out four.
The series has the potential to be explosive, given the offence that both teams bring, and the first inning put stock behind that belief.
The Orioles took a 2- 0 lead before the Jays sent a man to the plate.
Hyun Soon Kim reached on a bunt, and the next batter, Machado, walked.
Both advanced when Chris Davis grounded out, and both scored when Mark Trumbo doubled to right.
In their half of the first, the Jays managed to accomplish a feat that had been done just 34 times in team history.
Jose Bautista hit Gausman’s second pitch of the game into the seats in left field, breaking out of a 0-for8 slump.
After Josh Donaldson flied out to centre, Edwin Encarnacion homered to the second deck in left.
Michael Saunders grounded out, bringing up Troy Tulowitzki. On the first anniversary of his first game as a Jay after a trade from Colorado, Tulowitzki homered to left, putting the Jays up 3-2.
It was the second time this season the Jays connected for three home runs in one inning.
Baltimore tied the game 3- 3 in the third on a bizarre sequence. With Machado on first base after a walk, the Jays played the shift and were successful in getting Davis to ground out. Machado kept chugging for third, as no Jay was there to cover the base. Catcher Russell Martin hustled to third to try to get the out, but dropped the ball. Machado t hen scooted home and scored after Martin vacated his post and no one covered.
The Jays shrugged it off, scoring three runs in their half of the third. Tulowitzki grounded out, scoring Encarnacion, who had led off with a walk and later advanced to third. A Martin single scored Michael Saunders. With two out, Kevin Pillar singled, scoring Martin.
The Orioles got one run back in the fourth as Jonathan Schoop scored on a J. J. Hardy groundout.
The Jays were able to keep Davis in check, despite his notorious ways at the Rogers Centre. Davis entered the game with a .340 career average in 44 games in the former SkyDome, and his 17 home runs are the most he has hit in any park as a visitor. Davis went 0-for-4. “He has always hit well here, he has always hit well, period,” Jays manager John Gibbons said before the game. “So you are conscious of that, but you are not going to hold him down forever. Hopefully, he stays cool for a little longer.”