Blue Jays decimate Votto’s Reds
Led by Tulowitzki grand slam, Toronto racked up third-most hits in franchise history
The Blue Jays were a slugging machine in the opener of a three-game series against the Reds, racking up a 17-2 win before a raucous crowd at the Rogers Centre on Monday night.
The Jays piled up 23 hits, third most in franchise history, led by a Troy Tulowitzki grand slam in the third inning. Russell Martin and Justin Smoak also went deep.
It was the first time the Jays had scored in double digits this season, improving their record to 23-27.
It was also a record-breaking night for Devon Travis, who finished with four hits and a pair of runs batted in.
Every starter scored at least one run, while Kevin Pillar, the team leader in hits, was the only one who didn’t manage a hit.
The Reds — led by Etobicoke-native Joey Votto, who was presented with the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s Tip O’Neill Award before going 0-for-3 on the night — went through two pitchers before Jays starter Marcus Stroman handed the ball to Dominic Leone after six innings of five-hit, two-run ball.
Reds starter Lasalverto Bonilla allowed six runs on just three hits in 2 1⁄ innings. He was replaced by an
3 other right-hander, Robert Stephenson, who coughed up seven runs on 10 hits over two frames.
The Reds opened the scoring when speedy centre-fielder Billy Hamilton crossed the plate on an Adam Duvall single in the first. The bottom of that inning was one of only two in which the Jays didn’t score. Martin’s tworun homer in the bottom of the second gave Toronto the lead. A bases-loaded groundout by Smoak scored Josh Donaldson to stretch the Jays’ advantage to two early in the third, before a Martin walk once again loaded them.
Tulowitzki had just one hit in the two games since his return from a hamstring injury when he stepped up to the plate after Martin. The shortstop slammed the fourth grand slam of his career into left field off the first pitch he saw.
It marked the first back-to-back starts for Tulowitzki and Donaldson since they returned from the disabled list this past Friday.
Donaldson, who had been out with a calf injury, went 1-for-4 with a walk on the night. The way the third baseman was bolting around the bases should please the Jays, as if the calf that has nagged him since spring training was a thing of the past.
In the bottom of the third, Travis hit a single, extending his hit streak to 13 games — the longest by any Jay so far this season. He would wind up 4 for 6 including his 16th double of May, a franchise record for two-baggers in the month.
The Jays started to pull away when Smoak launched his team-leading 12th homer in the fourth inning. They would go on to score another10 runs in the final five innings.
The Reds’ only reprieve came in the sixth, when Adam Duvall hit a solo home run.
The blowout allowed the Jays to rest Tulowitzki, Donaldson and Jose Bautista in the later innings, with Darwin Barney, Ryan Goins and Luke Maile — bumping catcher Martin to third base — coming in to finish the job.