Atlanta 8, Toronto 7
When: 7:07 PM ET, Friday, April 17, 2015
Where: Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario
Temperature:
Indoors
Umpires:
Home -
Joe West, 1B -
Bruce Dreckman, 2B -
Tom Hallion, 3B -
Alfonso Marquez
Attendance:
21397
By The Sports Xchange
TORONTO -- Pinch-hitter Jonny Gomes hit a solo home run, first baseman Freddie Freeman added a two-run homer in a three-run eighth inning and the Atlanta Braves held on to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 8-7 on Friday night.
The Braves overcame a five-homer barrage by the Blue Jays, including two each by third baseman Josh Donaldson and catcher Russell Martin, to win the opener of a three-game interleague series.
Second baseman Devon Travis hit Toronto's other home run.
Gomes entered the game as a pinch-hitter for center fielder Cameron Maybin to lead off the eighth and hit his second homer of the season on a 0-1 pitch from reliever Brett Cecil (0-1) to snap a 5-5 tie. Right fielder Nick Markakis singled with two outs and Freeman followed with his third homer of the season to chase Cecil and give Atlanta a three-run lead.
That made a winner of reliever Cody Martin (1-0). Right-handed Jason Grilli pitched the ninth to post his fifth save of the season.
Right-hander Jim Johnson took over on the mound for the Braves in the eighth and Martin greeted him with his second homer of the game.
Center fielder Dalton Pompey and left fielder Kevin Pillar followed with singles and shortstop Ryan Goins sacrificed them to second and third. Pompey scored on a grounder to short by Travis that resulted in Pillar being caught in a rundown for the second out. Donaldson grounded out to end the inning.
Blue Jays starter Drew Hutchison could not hold a lead three times and departed after 4 2/3 innings, allowing seven hits, three walks and five runs (four earned).
Braves starter Julio Teheran failed to hold a 5-4 lead in the fifth and was removed after giving up seven hits, including four home runs, two walks and five runs.
Travis led off the bottom of the first with his third home run of the season. He was batting leadoff because shortstop Jose Reyes is out with a rib injury.
The Braves tied the score in the second on an unearned run. Shortstop Andrelton Simmons singled with one out and took third with two outs on an error by Goins off a grounder by center fielder Cameron Maybin. Eric Young Jr. singled to tie the score.
With one out in the second, the Blue Jays regained the lead on Martin's first home run of the season.
The Braves tied it again on a single by catcher A.J. Pierzynski with one out in the third that scored Markakis, who had led off with a single and moved to second on a single by designated hitter Chris Johnson.
The Blue Jays took a 4-2 lead when the first home run of the season by Donaldson followed a one-out single by Travis.
Hutchison was removed for right-hander Roberto Osuna with two outs in the fifth after Simmons tied the game with a two-run double. It scored Markakis, who had led off with a single, and Johnson, who had walked with one out.
Second baseman Jace Peterson greeted Osuna with a triple to give Atlanta a 5-4 lead.
The lead did not last long. Donaldson hit his second homer of the game on a 3-2 count with one out in the home fifth. It was the fourth multi-homer game of his career.
NOTES: Blue Jays SS Jose Reyes (cracked rib) will rest until Tuesday before being re-evaluated to determine whether he can avoid the disabled list. He was injured on a swing in Baltimore on April 11. It does not affect his fielding or batting from the right side but hampers him hitting left-handed. An MRI revealed a crack in the rib and muscle strain on the lower left side. Reyes has been told that playing would not affect the rib but could worsen the strain. ... 2B Devon Travis, who was batting .371/.421/.657, took over the Blue Jays' leadoff spot Friday against Atlanta. ... Atlanta 3B Chris Johnson was the designated hitter and batted fifth Friday. ... Braves LHP Alex Wood (1-0, 3.86 ERA) will start Saturday against Blue Jays RHP R.A. Dickey (0-1, 2.19).
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
| Atlanta |
|
Toronto |
|
Julio Teheran
|
Player |
Drew Hutchison |
|
No Decision |
W/L |
No Decision |
|
5.0 |
IP |
4.2 |
|
4 |
Strikeouts |
6 |
|
7 |
Hits |
7 |
|
9.00 |
ERA |
7.71 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
| Atlanta
|
12 |
2 |
21 |
.300 |
20 |
8 |
8 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
| Toronto
|
11 |
5 |
27 |
.306 |
14 |
7 |
7 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
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