Toronto 6, Atlanta 5
When: 1:07 PM ET, Saturday, April 18, 2015
Where: Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario
Temperature:
Indoors
Umpires:
Home -
Bruce Dreckman, 1B -
Tom Hallion, 2B -
Alfonso Marquez, 3B -
Joe West
Attendance:
34743
By The Sports Xchange
TORONTO -- The Toronto Blue Jays turned to the long ball after spotting the Atlanta Braves a four-run lead to take the second game of an interleague series with a walk-off, 6-5 10-inning victory on Saturday.
After Jose Bautista's two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth tied the game, 4-4, the Braves tied things in the ninth with on Kelly Johnson' homer.
But designated hitter Josh Donaldson greeted Braves reliever Sugar Ray Marimon (0-1) with a drive into the left-field stands to give Brett Cecil (1-1) the victory for Toronto.
The Braves took advantage of Toronto starter R.A. Dickey's wildness right off the bat, combining a single by Alberto Callaspo, two walks and a sacrifice fly by Chris Johnson to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
Dickey, the veteran Toronto knuckleballer, has had control issues all season. Even though he was on a string of nine consecutive quality starts dating to last season, Dickey entered the game having issued eight walks in 12 1/3 innings.
Dickey appeared to have things under control briefly, retiring the next five Braves, three of them by strikeout.
But then he issued a two-out walk to Nick Markakis in the third, setting the stage for Freddie Freeman's drive into the center field stands that gave the Braves to a 3-0 lead.
Things didn't get any better for Dickey in the fourth when Atlanta catcher A.J. Pierzynski deposited his first pitch of the inning into the right field bleachers to expand the Braves' lead to 4-0.
Dickey settled down after that, but things didn't look good with Atlanta starter Alex Wood seemingly in control.
The left-hander limited the Jays to a single baserunner in each of the first four innings and was aided by three double plays.
The Blue Jays finally got to Wood in the seventh. After Valencia stroked a one-out double to deep center field, catcher Russell Martin brought him home with a deep single to right.
The Jays came within two runs when shortstop Steve Tolleson slammed a triple to right center that brought in Martin.
When rookie outfielder Dalton Pompey legged out an infield single to score Tolleson and bring the Jays within one, Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez went to his bullpen.
Reliever Brandon Cunniff got a diving catch from shortstop Andrelton Simmons to end the inning.
Things continued to unravel for the Braves in the eighth. Donaldson led off with a single off reliever Jim Johnson and Jose Bautista got his first hit of the day and his third home run of the season, a monster drive to left that gave the Jays the lead.
That lead was short-lived, as Atlanta outfielder Kelly Johnson greeted closer Miguel Castro with a leadoff home run to center that tied the game, 5-5.
It was Johnson's second of the season and was the first earned run charged to the rookie reliever.
NOTES: Blue Jays rookie 2B Devon Travis, who had not played above Double-A before this season, continues to hit major league pitching beyond expectations. Heading into Saturday's game, he was batting .375 with 12 RBIs and three home runs. "He's got the complete game," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "He's handled breaking balls and he puts the ball in play." Gibbons is not worried that opposing pitchers will find a hole in Travis' swing. "I'm not sure he's got one," he said. "He's got such a great compact swing." ... The five home runs Braves pitchers surrendered in Friday night's 8-7 victory were the most given up by an Atlanta pitching staff since September 2008. The last time Braves pitchers surrendered that many home runs and still won was June 30, 1978. ... When RHP Drew Hutchison was yanked after 4 2/3 innings Friday, it marked the sixth time in the team's first 11 games that the starter has failed to work at least six innings, putting a lot of pressure on the bullpen. "We've got to pitch a little better,
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
| Atlanta |
|
Toronto |
|
Alex Wood
|
Player |
R.A. Dickey
|
|
No Decision |
W/L |
No Decision |
|
6.2 |
IP |
7.0 |
|
0 |
Strikeouts |
6 |
|
9 |
Hits |
4 |
|
4.05 |
ERA |
5.14 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
| Atlanta
|
9 |
3 |
18 |
.243 |
12 |
10 |
5 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
| Toronto
|
13 |
2 |
23 |
.371 |
16 |
0 |
6 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
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