Homers help Jays win ‘grudge match’
• When the Blue Jays can blow a 5- 0 lead, break in a new catcher, survive a near meltdown by Marco Estrada and still win to take a series from the Yankees, maybe the baseball gods are starting to smile on them again.
With Roberto Osuna capping a second strong game from the pen and converting his 20th straight save in a showdown with league-leading slugger Aaron Judge, Toronto preserved a 7-6 win and a degree of sanity in their first consecutive victories since mid-June.
“We’re starting to click a little bit,” said Russell Martin, who added a new wrinkle to the lineup with one of his rare shifts from catcher to third base. “Better at- bats through the lineup, it’s contagious. A couple of guys get hot and it starts to trickle down the lineup.”
Incoming catcher Miguel Montero and Martin had a lot to take in from their respective new perches. They saw six balls leave Yankee Stadium in a home run derby, with the short porch in right field a factor.
The Yankees had shaky pitching at the start from Michael Pineda, lit up for five runs, while reliever Dellin Betances walked the bases full in the eighth and lost Martin on a full count to force the go-ahead run. In between, Estrada lost his groove and went to seven games with losses or no decisions.
“We had to win t hat grudge match to feel good about ourselves and have a good flight home going into a tough series against Houston,” Martin said. “Those ( Yankees) are tough, they battled back, but we were able to put a tough inning on Betances (with composure at the plate) and we were able to walk in the winning run. We’ll take that.”
Both manager John Gibbons and Martin gave kudos to Montero for coming to a new team and working through a new staff. But Montero also benefitted from a second strong shutdown game from Aaron Loup, winning pitcher Danny Barnes and the exclamation mark from Osuna. He and Montero got Judge to wave at a low pitch with a runner on first to end the game.
“(Montero) gives us a good low target and catches nicely,” Gibbons said of the veteran Venezuelan. “He’s got energy and I was impressed but he’s been around. You can’t last in this league if you can’t catch (new pitchers).”
It was a narrow escape after a two- run Judge homer and a string of passes by Estrada.
“You get a nice lead and cough it up, that can suck it right out of you,” Gibbons said. “But you never feel good in these places because you have that short right field wall. And they have an off day tomorrow so they ran their whole bullpen. That’s why Russ’s homer (to tie it in the seventh) was so big.”
Gibbons noted Osuna has shown none of the anxiety issues that became public a couple of weeks ago.
“Just to be able to do what I love is fun,” said Osuna, also in on Tuesday’s 4-1 gem by starter J.A. Happ. “I’m doing my best, doing everything I can to get ready and get the job done. Everything is going in the right direction.”
By the third inning in this one, Justin Smoak and Kendrys Morales put backto-back homers on the board for the first time since May 30. Coupled with Kevin Pillar and Martin clearing the fences, they tied the season high from June 7 at Oakland.