Blue Jays fi nd bats in Baltimore
Catcher Navarro comes up big to salvage series split with AL East rivals
BALTIMORE — Dioner Navarro was batting .182 in June. On Sunday, he had three hits, including two doubles, and two RBIs.
Edwin Encarnacion had gone zero for 16 before collecting a couple of hits on Saturday. He had three more on Sunday, including two that set up runs.
J. A. Happ failed to survive the fourth inning in his previous start. This time he pitched into the seventh, walked none, struck out six and surrendered a single run.
After soaring through May, the Toronto Blue Jays have not caught that big wind again. But their ship seems steadier now.
“Today was a big game for us,” manager John Gibbons said after the Jays beat Baltimore 5- 2 to split a four- game series. “We came to life a little bit. Happ was outstanding. He gave us just what we needed.”
Toronto entered the series with a 4 ½ - game lead in the American League East and left with the same edge over the secondplace Orioles. The low- scoring series between two offensiveminded teams was tense from start to finish and drew big, boisterous crowds for the final three games. Now comes a day of rest in New York before the Jays open a three- game set in Yankee Stadium on Tuesday.
“These guys are dragging ass, man,” Gibbons said. “They’ve been battling every day. They need a day off. I don’t think it could’ve come at a better time. But they’ve been guttin’ it out.”
Clichés abound in that observation, but it was indeed a stressful series for both clubs. The Jays won 4- 0 and 5- 2 and lost 4- 2 and 3- 2. Every starting pitcher for each side worked at least six innings. Toronto leads the majors in homers but hit only one in the series.
Navarro, whose sore legs have been nagging for weeks, singled home the second run and doubled in the fourth run to let his team exhale a bit. Both of those hits were soft and well placed, but when a reporter brought up that topic, Navarro grinned and interjected: “Those were line drives.”