EXTRA SPECIAL:
Lawrie plays hero as Jays top Sox in 10:
When Munenori Kawasaki returned to the Blue Jays on Wednesday afternoon, “the noise level rose” inside the team’s locker room, manager John Gibbons said. The noise level also rose inside the Rogers Centre on Wednesday night as the lovable fan favourite drew ovations at every turn, despite scarcely factoring in the game’s dramatic outcome — a 4-3 walk-off victory over the Boston Red Sox in the 10th inning. During Esmil Rogers’ post-game media scrum, Kawasaki — ever the goofball — posed with a notepad amid the posse of reporters to ask Rogers what country he was from, a reference to a running inside joke between the two players in which Kawasaki challenges Rogers’ Dominican heritage because he can speak half-decent English. “C’mon Kawa,” Rogers said, collapsing in laughter. And so once again Kawasaki’s uplifting presence added some life and levity to what has otherwise been a dismal Jays season. He may not always add much on the field, but his spirit is something the “whole stadium notices,” said Brett Lawrie, who drove in the game-winning run. “Obviously he brings some fire, he’s got good energy and the boys love him.” The Jays’ win came much to the delight of the 31,695 in attendance, who continued to loudly boo ex-manager John Farrell at every opportunity.
With speedy Rajai Davis at third and the Red Sox infield in, Lawrie screeched a line drive off shortstop Stephen Drew’s glove to score the game-winning run.
It was the second straight game in which Farrell opted to intentionally walk the batter ahead of Lawrie to get to the hyper 23-year-old. On Tuesday it worked in Boston’s favour, but on Wednesday Lawrie made his former skipper pay.
Lawrie said the key this time was taking “a big deep breath” and calming himself down before the fateful pitch. “I was just trying to put the ball in play because I knew who was at third base.”
The man at third was Davis, who snapped an 0-for-17 slump by going 3for-5 with a pair of doubles and electrified the home crowd with a wild play in the third inning when he scampered around all four bases to score a Little League home run on an infield single thanks to a pair of throwing errors by the Red Sox.
“Honestly, I didn’t know where the ball was,” Davis said. “I heard (third-base coach Luis Rivera) say, ‘Go, go, go, go.’ OK, I’m gone.”
Even still, the loudest cheers were reserved for Kawasaki, who was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo after the Jays traded Emilio Bonifacio to Kansas City.
Kawasaki started at second base on Wednesday and Gibbons said he will share second-bag duties with Maicer Iz- turis for the time being.
Also called up from Buffalo was 24-yearold outfielder Kevin Pillar, who didn’t try to hide his excitement as he stepped onto the Rogers Centre field for batting practice ahead of his big-league debut.
“It’s a lot bigger than it looks on TV,” he said, unabashedly.
Pillar, promoted to replace the injured Colby Rasmus, had no impact on the game offensively, but his debut was not without highlight. Playing left field, he made a headlong diving catch to rob Jonny Gomes of a base hit in the sixth inning.
Once again the Jays’ bullpen — their stalwart strength in the first half of the season — gave up a late-inning lead when Brett Cecil, who has allowed just three home runs this season, surrendered a game-tying two-run shot to Mike Napoli with two outs in the ninth.
It marked the eighth straight game in which the bullpen has allowed a run, but this time the club’s offence saved them.
The late-game dramatics aside, Wednesday’s win was really about Rogers, who earned his fourth victory of the season on his 28th birthday. He allowed just one run — a solo homer to Red Sox DH David Ortiz — over six solid innings.
Gibbons said Rogers is likely to keep his spot in the rotation for the time being.
“Can’t really put him back in the ’pen after that, can we?”