DONALDSON EARNS AN ‘A’
Delivers game-winning hit for Jays
OAKLAND J.A. Happ was trying to get a word in edgewise, but it was no contest.
Off, away from the cameras and microphones, Troy Tulowitzki and Josh Thole were injecting themselves into Happ’s media scrum following the Blue Jays’ 5-3 victory that allowed them to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Oakland Athletics.
It had been a rough day for pitchers. Oakland’s Rich Hill retired after five pitches, with a blister. His replacement, Andrew Triggs, took a shot from the bat of Josh Donaldson that knocked him out of the game.
Later on, Happ was hit twice, hard, by batted balls, yet was able to shake them off and continue.
And now, Tulowitzki and Thole were needling the left-hander, reminding him how hitters take plenty of knocks.
“Man, what’s the big deal. A pitcher gets hit? We get hit all the time,” said Tulowitzki, with Thole in vocal agreement.
“I’m not going to say one thing,” said Happ with a smile. “Those are my guys.”
In the end, Donaldson delivered a two-run double with two outs in the top of the ninth, to provide the winning runs. That came after the A’s had blindsided the Blue Jays in the first two games of the series, coming from behind for both wins.
“(Donaldson) does that a lot,” said manager John Gibbons. “It’s what makes him such a good player, stepping up in the big moments. We desperately needed that as a team. It was a big win for us.”
The Jays had gone into the All-Star break as one of the hottest teams in baseball but had lacked much of a spark in the first two games. Donaldson and Tulowitzki, with a two-run home run, provided that ignition Sunday.
Donaldson’s perfectly placed looper down the left-field line, stroked off Oakland reliever John Axford, scored pinch-runner Andy Burns and Junior Lake in a game in which the Blue Jays blew an early 3-0 lead. The hit also made a winner out of reliever Jason Grilli, who pitched a perfect bottom of the eighth inning.
Closer Roberto Osuna came on to close down the victory for Grilli, recording his 19th save of the season.
Grilli has turned out to be a very valuable addition to the Toronto bullpen, after he was rescued from Atlanta in May. He’s now 3-1 and has settled in as a key man in highleverage situations.
Grilli, Brett Cecil and Osuna got the job done on Sunday. Cecil got a strikeout and a double-play ball in the seventh inning, and Grilli pitched a perfect eighth.
“Grilli has been a Godsend, doing it all year and when we’ve really needed it,” said Gibbons. “He’s come in and taken over that eighth inning. Osuna is just still doing his thing.
“I was very encouraged for Cecil. He didn’t look real sharp the other night, and I’ll chalk that up to the All- Star break. He was much better today. He got that big ground-ball double-play, which is key.”
After Triggs was knocked out of the game, Sean Manaea came out of the bullpen and held the Jays off the scoreboard for two innings, but a Russell Martin double leading off the fourth set the stage for Tulowitzki’s one-out blast to dead centre, for his 16th homer of the year.
The Jays got a scare of their own in the bottom of the fifth when, with one out, Jake Smolinski belted a liner right back at Happ, striking him on the forearm, just above his pitching hand. After consulting with assistant trainer Mike Frostad, Happ threw a few warmup pitches and stayed in the game.
“I was just making sure I was able to get the strength back in my forearm,” said Happ. “After a few minutes I felt like I had the grip strength to pull on it and throw the breaking balls and off-speed stuff. Once I saw that, it became a non-issue.”
Later, Happ was hit on the left hamstring by a ball scorched by Josh Reddick.
“Thole told me they were going to bring the L-screen out for me if I went out for the next inning,” said Happ, referring to the protective screens the coaches use while pitching batting practice.
What started as a strong outing for Happ dissolved in the sixth inning. Marcus Semien’s 20th home run, a one-out blast to dead centre field broke the shutout. Then, with two out, Danny Valencia singled and Khris Davis walked. That brought Jesse Chavez out of the bullpen to face DH Billy Butler. Oakland manager Bob Melvin countered with pinch-hitter Yonder Alonso and he drilled a two-RBI double to the wall in left-centre to tie the game.
A hit batsman and an infield single loaded the bases before Chavez got out of the jam with an infield pop-up that appeared like it might drop in between four fielders before first-baseman Justin Smoak took charge to make the catch.
Toronto blew a gilt-edged opportunity to regain the lead in the seventh after Kevin Pillar and Smoak both singled to put runners at first and second with nobody out. Lake and Devon Travis struck out in succession. Donaldson popped out in foul ground behind third base to end the threat.