Hernandez, Solarte, Pillar homers help Jays end slump
TORONTO — On a day when the Blue Jays bullpen needed a break, J.A. Happ tossed seven innings, allowing just two earned runs as Toronto snapped a fourgame skid with a 7-2 American League baseball win over the Texas Rangers.
Yangervis Solarte, Teoscar Hernandez and Kevin Pillar each hit solo home runs as the Blue Jays avoided a sweep at the hands of the Rangers.
“I take pride in that and trying to do that over the last couple years,” said Happ on giving the bullpen a day off.
“You’re definitely aware of kind of where we’re at with the bullpen — a little bit thin there, but just trying to go out, obviously you want quick outs whenever you can, but you can’t really change the gameplay too much to accommodate for that.”
Happ (4-1) surrendered five hits while striking out nine.
The left-hander now has back-toback starts with nine-plus strikeouts and no walks — the only other Blue Jays pitcher to accomplish that feat was Roger Clemens.
“I’m just trying to change speeds when I need to and trying not to let them see the same pitch too many times in a row, trying to change it up on them,” said Happ.
“I think me being aggressive, getting strike one is usually a good thing for me.”
Ryan Tepera and Aaron Loup each pitched a scoreless inning of relief.
The loss halted the Rangers’ (11-18) season-high three-game win streak.
Randal Grichuk showed off his defensive prowess in the first inning, diving and cradling the ball between his body and glove to rob Isiah Kiner-Falefa of extra bases and then doubled up Delino DeShields at second for the inning-ending double-play.
The Blue Jays right-fielder then contributed offensively, scoring Pillar from third on a sacrifice fly in the second to give Toronto a 2-1 lead. Grichuk, who entered Sunday’s game mired in an 0-for-18 slump, went 2 for 3.