Josh Donaldson’s walk-off home run caps Blue Jays comeback victory
Take a look around the league with Big League Stew’s daily wrap up. We’ll hit on all of the biggest moments from the day that you may have missed, while providing highlights, photos and interesting stats.
Lost in the drama in Boston and Kansas City this weekend has been the excellent series that’s playing out in Toronto. On Friday, the Braves topped the Blue Jays by one run despite being outhomered five to two. On Saturday, the Braves used the long ball early to build a four-run lead, but the Blue Jays ultimately prevailed 6-5 in 10 innings.
Josh Donaldson, who was acquired from the Oakland A’s in one of the offseason’s more surprising trades, landed the decisive blow with a walkoff solo homer off Sugar Ray Marimón in the 10th. The home run was Donaldson’s third in two games, and his 11th hit overall in five games. He’s absolutely sizzling.
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Two innings earlier, Jose Bautista cracked his third homer of the season, a two-run shot which temporarily gave Toronto the lead. He hasn’t been sizzling with a .150 batting average. However, as the Stew’s Chris Cwik pointed out prior to Bautista’s home run on Saturday, there were signs he’s ready to breakthrough.
Before Bautusta’s home run.
After Bautista’s home run.
Nailed it.
The Blue Jays first lead was quickly undone when Kelly Johnson homered off Miguel Castro in the ninth. Freddie Freeman and A.J. Pierzynski also homered for Atlanta, but together it wasn’t enough to overcome the Jays.
KING FELIX DOMINATES RANGERS ON HIS BOBBLEHEAD NIGHT
Any concern about the quad injury that forced Felix Hernandez from his previous start were completely squashed on Saturday. With the King’s Court rocking down the left field and thousands of fans clutching their new King Felix bobbleheads, the Mariners ace put a dirty dozen strikeouts on the board to help Seattle knock off the Texas Rangers 3-1 and snap a four-game losing streak.
Overall, Hernandez allowed just one run on two hits over seven innings. He also walked two and hit two, but never faltered en route to career victory No. 127. The dozen strikeouts raised his career total to 1,974, so he’s nearing a pretty notable milestone.
Offensively, Mike Zunino delivered his first home run of the season, a go-ahead solo shot in the fifth. Brad Miller tripled home a run in the sixth.
MASAHIRO TANAKA DOMINANT AGAINST RAYS
For the first time in three starts, Masahiro Tanaka looked healthy and displayed the dominant form that carried him to a historic first half in 2014.
Tanaka had everything working, striking out eight and allowing just two hits on 85 pitches. Most encouraging, Tanaka’s command was spot on. He didn’t walk a single batter after walking five total in his first two outings. That’s a good indication he’s on his game and feeling good.
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Speaking of which, the Yankees offense is feeling good after putting a nine-spot on the board. Brian McCann paced the attack with three hits, including a two-run triple. Chris Young provided the finishing touches with a seventh-inning grand slam off reliever Grant Balfour.
In news directly connected to that grand slam, Balfour, a former closer with the Rays and A’s, was designated for assignment following the game despite his $7 million salary.
TIGERS TAKE SECOND LOSS
If you’re going to lose one game a week, you might as well lose in spectacular fashion. The Detroit Tigers did just that on Saturday, falling 12-3 to a scuffling Chicago White Sox ballclub at Comerica Park.
Right-hander Anibal Sanchez wasn’t long for the afternoon, lasting just 3 1/3 innings. Some Tigers’ fans would argue he still managed to overstay his welcome, as the White Sox racked up for four runs in the third and another seven in the fourth. Nine of those runs were charged to Sanchez, who’s ERA ballooned to 7.71.
Jose Abreu delivered the big blow for Chicago with a fourth-inning grand slam, The slam was the second of Abreu’s young MLB career and his third home run overall this season. Together with Adam LaRoche, the White Sox 3-4 lineup punch combined for six hits, two home runs and eight RBIs. Melky Cabrera added four hits and scored twice.
Naturally, that was more than enough support for Chris Sale, who improved to 2-0 with six innings of two-run ball.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
