Big bats lead Blue Jays in rout of Astros
DUNEDIN— Some big bats exploded for home runs as the Blue Jays turned aside the Houston Astros 7-2 Friday.
Jose Bautista and Troy Tulowitzki got the attention of the sold-out crowd, both clubbing solo shots that sailed well over the outfield fences.
Here are five takeaways from the win, which boosted Toronto’s spring record to 12-4-2:
JOEY BATS
The slugger homered for the second time this spring, a three-run shot off a Doug Fister changeup that stayed over the plate. The shot cleared the left field fence on a line and disappeared into the trees beyond the fence. Bautista, who eased into spring training, missing the opening weeks of the spring schedule, looks in fine form with 12 games to go.
“Just trying to get good pitches to hit, get my swings and reps, and make sure my eyes are telling me the truth about the strike zone,” Bautista said afterward.
AARON SANCHEZ
Young pitcher continues to look dominant, and seems to be the leading candidate for the fifth slot in the rotation. He worked 42⁄ innings Fri
3 day, giving up a run and two walks while striking out five. Sanchez got his changeup under 90 m.p.h., which he was hoping for, and was happy with his 0-2 curveball. As for the rotation, he wants that fifth slot.
“In this clubhouse there’s no adversity, no tension,” Sanchez said. “If (I get assigned to the bullpen) I’ll go down there and try and help this team win games.”
RANDY CHOATE
Veteran pitcher saw his first game action as a Blue Jay and notched an out off a ground ball to first.
That’s his specialty at this stage in his career, getting one or two outs in matchups with left-handed hitters. Chatter around camp still has him starting the season in Toronto if lefty reliever Aaron Loup (forearm muscle strain) isn’t ready.
TROY GOES DEEP
Tulowitzki slammed his second homer of the spring, a solo shot in the fifth. He has six hits, two of them homers, in 24 spring at-bats. Tulowitzki has been working in new lumber and fine-tuning his batting mechanics now that he’s modified his leg kick. Overall, he’s a rock out there for the Jays, and a key figure in the team’s leadership group.
JUNIOR LAKE
Lake continues to keep alive the battle with Ezequiel Carrera for the Jays’ fourth outfielder job. Lake does not stack up to Carrera in terms of experience; but Toronto is playing him in centre field, in part because they’d like their fourth outfielder to be versatile. Lake is out of minor league options and may hang around camp through next week before Toronto is forced to make a decision on him; they’d have to waive him before assigning him to Triple-A Buffalo.