JAYS: Solarte slam difference in Game 1,
The Blue Jays’ recipe was famil- iar for in Game 1 of the scheduled makeup doubleheader at Progressive Field on Thursday. A Jays starter went short, the bullpen went long and the bats came up large in a 13-11 victory in 11 innings, all this following a rain delay of an hour and 34 minutes. Then they had to take a 30-minute break and play Game 2 before boarding a charter to Tampa.
The biggest takeaway for the Jays, despite the long day, was the welcomed return of their best player, third baseman Josh Donaldson, following an absence of 23 days. The gritty Donaldson banged out three hits, including two doubles and a two-run homer in the sixth inning that tied the game at 7-7.
For Yangervis Solarte, it was an eventful afternoon capped by a game-winning grand slam in the 11th against left-hander Tyler Olson. It was Solarte’s fifth hit of the game, a career high. Solarte began the game at second base and ended it at first. By the end of the game, it looked like he had gone 10 rounds in a heavyweight bout.
The 30-year-old Solarte slid headfirst into third base in the third inning, nosediving into the wet turf and flipping heels over head. He required medical attention from the training staff. He remained in the game after five minutes of treatment, with just a bandage on his upper lip to show for his troubles.
With the Jays nursing a tworun lead in the eighth inning and Ryan Tepera on the mound, Solarte, by now playing first base because of an aggravated rib injury to Steve Pearce, fanned on a hard line drive by Michael Brantley that went down to the right-field corner and tied the game 9-9, ironically setting up his own heroics in the 11th.
The Jays had taken a 5-0 lead behind left-hander Jaime Garcia, who breezed through the first three innings, then lost it in the fourth. Before the fourthinning carnage had ended, the Indians had scored seven runs and Garcia had handed the ball off to the bullpen. The Jays used seven relievers, allowing three runs in 7 2/3 innings, with rookie Tim Mayza picking up the victory.