Jays end warmups with win
MONTREAL — Rowdy Tellez left a solid impression on the Toronto Blue Jays and the 52,202 fans at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium on Saturday.
The burly first base prospect hit a long home run as the Blue Jays ended their pre-season schedule with a 6-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. After the game, Tellez got handshakes and hugs from teammates in the clubhouse as he prepared to leave for triple-A Buffalo, where he will start the season.
Manager John Gibbons said it is a matter of time before he is threatening outfield fences in Toronto.
“Rowdy’s going to come fast. He’s the closest to the big leagues for us,” said Gibbons. “I think first base will be his position for a lot of years in Toronto when he finally breaks in.
“He’s got tremendous power, but more than that he’s a good hitter. For a big guy, he’s a good base runner. He’s really turned into a nice first baseman. I thought he was really good in spring training. The sky’s the limit, but you’ve still got to go out there and do it.”
The solo home run by Tellez in the seventh inning closed out the scoring in the two-game set, which opened Friday night with a 1-1 tie before 43,180 spectators.
“It was pretty cool,” said Tellez, 22. “”To do it in front of 50,000 people was a great feeling, a great experience.“
Now it’s up to Tellez to show that he is indeed the rightful heir to the first base job that, until he left as a free agent, was owned by Edwin Encarnacion.
The Blue Jays will announce their final cuts today.
The Jays scored one in the second and narrowly missed a much bigger inning. With the bases loaded, Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit a long ball to right that drifted just foul before being called out on strikes. Melvin Upton Jr. finally brought in Troy Tulowitzki on a fielder’s choice, but then was caught stealing to end the threat.
It was the same in the third. After first baseman Kendrys Morales doubled home Kevin Pillar, the Jays loaded the bases but left-hander Dan Runzler came on in relief of starter Chad Kuhl and got Steve Pearce to pop up to first to end the inning.
Jays starter Francisco Liriano was lifted with two out in the fourth in favour of Mike Bolsinger. He was greeted with Josh Bell’s base hit to right to score Andrew McCutchen, but then ended it by striking out Phil Gosselin.