Toronto 8, Cleveland 7
When: 7:07 PM ET, Wednesday, May 10, 2017
Where: Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario
Temperature:
Indoors
Umpires:
Home -
Victor Carapazza, 1B -
Tom Hallion, 2B -
Mark Ripperger, 3B -
Phil Cuzzi
Attendance:
35115
By The Sports Xchange
TORONTO -- This was the kind of game the Toronto Blue Jays had been losing during their painful early-season struggles.
They fell behind the Cleveland Indians by four runs Wednesday, then came back to win 8-7 when Ryan Goins singled with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth.
"I feel like we've been playing good baseball all year," said Goins, who has been making the most of his chance with regular shortstop Troy Tulowitzki injured. "We've lost (seven) one-run games. We've been knocking on the door a lot, and finally we're knocking that door down."
By winning the rubber match of the three-game set, the Blue Jays (13-21) have won two straight series for the first time this season. The Indians (18-15) finished their nine-game road trip at 4-5.
Jose Bautista bashed a three-run homer and Ezequiel Carrera hit a two-run blast for the Blue Jays. Goins finished with three hits and two RBIs.
Jason Kipnis and Brandon Guyer each recorded three RBIs for the Indians.
Roberto Osuna (2-0) pitched a perfect ninth for Toronto to earn the win.
"Things have kind of flipped in in the month of May; we're starting to win some of those game we couldn't win earlier in the year," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said.
Cody Allen (0-1) allowed a one-out single to Carrera and two-out walks to Justin Smoak and Steve Pearce in the ninth before Goins delivered a hit to right field.
After the two walks ahead of him, Goins said he wanted to stay aggressive.
"I knew he would try to get ahead of me," Goins said. "I was looking for the heater and got one over the plate. (The win) was big. Bouncing back and getting back in the game is what we're all about."
Allen said, "I've definitely played with fire a little bit the last few times out. The walks are killing me, the deep counts are killing me, and tonight it cost us a chance to win a ballgame.
"I was trying to throw a fastball down and away (to Goins) and get ahead of him. You've got nowhere to put him. He's in a spot where he can be aggressive because he knows I'm probably going to come after him right there. I left a ball up and out over the plate, and he was able to put good wood on it. That guy has swung the bat pretty well this whole series. The only way to avoid that is to keep him from coming to the plate."
Neither starter survived the third inning.
Toronto left-hander Francisco Liriano allowed seven runs, five hits and three walks in two-plus innings.
Cleveland right-hander Danny Salazar allowed five runs, five hits and two walks in 2 2/3 innings. He struck out four.
"I didn't want to get to the bullpen too quick, but it looked like it wasn't going to get better," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "When you're on the road, you're always a pitch or a hit away from what happened."
Kipnis hit a two-run double in the first inning to score Carlos Santana, who opened the game with a walk, and Francisco Lindor, who followed with a single.
Bautista answered for the Blue Jays in the bottom of the frame with a three-run homer. Kevin Pillar, who had a leadoff walk, and Carrera, who singled, scored on Bautista's third home run of the season.
The Indians regained the lead with five runs in the third inning. A leadoff walk to Santana and singles by Lindor and Kipnis produced one run. Edwin Encarnacion walked and Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker was ejected by home plate umpire Vic Carapazza during his visit to the mound.
Jose Ramirez hit an RBI single to put Cleveland ahead 4-3. Dominic Leone replaced Liriano, and Guyer greeted him with a three-run double to give the Indians a 7-3 lead.
The Blue Jays got two back in their third. Bautista walked, took third on Smoak's double and scored on Pearce's sacrifice fly. Goins followed with an RBI single before Dan Otero replaced Salazar.
Darwin Barney led off the fourth with a double and scored ahead of Carrera, who hit his third homer of the season with two outs to tie the game at 7.
"It would have been easy to fold, especially when they score a couple and you come back and hit the home run and take the lead and then they take a comfortable lead," Gibbons said. "You always know what they have down in their bullpen. I tip my hat to our guys."
NOTES: Cleveland CF Abraham Almonte (strained right shoulder) left in the top of the second inning when he was injured on his swing on a fly-out to right field. He was replaced in center field by OF Michael Martinez. ... Cleveland C Yan Gomes (illness) was replaced by C Roberto Perez in the bottom of the third. Manager Terry Francona referred to Gomes' problem as "intestinal turmoil." ... Toronto DH Kendrys Morales (left hamstring) was not in the lineup after leaving the game Tuesday with hamstring tightness. ... Toronto opens a four-game series with Seattle on Thursday, with RHP Marco Estrada (1-2, 3.14 ERA) facing Mariners RHP Chase De Jong (0-2, 6.75). ... Cleveland has Thursday off before starting Josh Tomlin (2-3, 7.12) against Minnesota Twins RHP Ervin Santana (5-1, 1.72) Friday in the opener of a three-game set at Progressive Field.
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
Cleveland
|
11 |
0 |
14 |
.306 |
13 |
8 |
7 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
Toronto
|
11 |
2 |
20 |
.324 |
12 |
7 |
8 |
6 |
0 |
0 |