ANAHEIM, Calif. – In the seventh inning Friday night, long before the game ran past midnight into Saturday, Jose Bautista struck out looking on a full-count curveball from Yusmeiro Petit and he walked to the dugout in bewilderment.
Two pitches earlier he had started walking toward first base thinking he’d earned a walk. Instead a high curve from Petit was called a strike, and moments later his funk was at 0-for-20.
Two innings after that things turned for the Toronto Blue Jays right-fielder with an infield single that ended the slide. In the bottom of the inning he made a terrific running catch on a Mike Trout rocket to right field. In the 11th, he worked a walk. And in the 13th, he ended his early-season frustration with a three-run homer to left-centre field that propelled the Blue Jays to a wild 8-7 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.
“It’s important, any win is important,” Bautista said afterwards in a buzzing clubhouse. “But off to a slow start, you play a game like this and if you lose it could be demoralizing. So the win is very important.”
Bautista’s big swing capped a back-and-forth affair in which Troy Tulowitzki left during the eighth inning with right hamstring tightness and they nearly blew it in the bottom of the 13th when the Angels scored a pair and left the bases loaded, underlining how nothing is coming easy for this team right now and every night remains an adventure.
“I thought the baseball gods were punishing us or something,” said manager John Gibbons, his team now 4-12.
Baseball’s most puzzling lineup managed to cash in on four of its seven walks, added another run on an error and got a clutch two-run double from Justin Smoak in the eighth as a 2-0 Blue Jays lead became a 4-2 deficit, which begat a 5-4 advantage that didn’t survive the Angels’ next turn at the plate.
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After the Bautista home run off Sunday starter Jesse Chavez, things got super weird as Aaron Loup took over, loaded the bases on errors by Justin Smoak and Chris Coghlan and a walk and then handed the ball to Joe Biagini, who was supposed to have the night off.
Biagini struck out Cliff Pennington, surrendered an RBI single to Kole Calhoun, hit Mike Trout to make it a one-run game, struck out Albert Pujols and got C.J. Cron on a liner to cap the five hours and 36 minutes of madness.
“I said, we’re not going to let this get away,” Gibbons said of calling in Biagini. “The ideal spot was if we got to Trout, then he could have gone in there, but then with the error, the walk and then another error, I knew Biagini was going to throw strikes, maybe get a groundball or two, go for it.”
Had the game gone to another inning, infielder Darwin Barney would have been on the mound.
The Blue Jays used six relievers in all, with Ryan Tepera going a career high three innings and 46 pitches to pick up a well-deserved win.
“Just attack and stay confident. That’s the first time I’ve thrown three innings in probably four years since I was a starter in double-A,” Tepera said of his approach. “We fought hard. What an unbelievable game. It was sloppy here and there and it was a long grinding game and that’s what it takes sometimes. Hopefully this brings us together even more. Sometimes that’s what happens. You play those long games, you get together, you’re all in the dugout cheering, ready for the game to end, Bautista hits that bomb, and it’s like wow. Definitely relieving, but it was exciting.”
By the end, it was hard to remember that the night started with Mat Latos covering for the injured J.A. Happ on an emergency stop-gap basis, and the five innings of four-run ball he delivered will play just fine in that role.
The 29-year-old right-hander gave up some hard contact, lost the zone briefly, but mostly kept things under control, and the Blue Jays won’t complain if he delivers the same Wednesday in St. Louis against the Cardinals.
“A few more strikes and less balls and I think he’ll be just fine,” said Gibbons. “He held them in check and gave us a shot, really. He looked comfortable out there.”
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The Blue Jays seemed to have control of the game in the top of the eighth when they rallied from a 4-3 deficit, Tulowitzki and Russell Martin starting things by working one out walks off Bud Norris. Cam Bedrosian took over and threw a wild pitch that advanced the runners, but after Tulowitzki slid safely into third, he got up slowly, walked right to the dugout and was replaced on the basepaths by Devon Travis.
On the next pitch Smoak lined a 95 mph fastball from Cam Bedrosian down the first-base line to open up a 5-4 lead.
“I definitely wasn’t in a position to help us if I had to tag up or score,” said Tulowitzki. “Tight. Knew I needed to get out before I further injured myself. I’m sore. Come to the locker-room (Saturday), talk to the trainers, see what we got and decide where we go from there.”
The lead didn’t last as with Biagini supposed to be down along with Jason Grilli and Roberto Osuna, Dominic Leone came on for the eighth and with two outs, walked Danny Espinosa. Pinch-hitter Jefry Marte then sent a fly ball down the line that Ezequiel Carrera leaped for, perhaps needlessly, and hit off the wall for an RBI double.
The Blue Jays scored a pair of runs in the third on walks by Coghlan and Ryan Goins, a Kevin Pillar sacrifice bunt, a Carrera ground ball and an Alex Meyer wild pitch to open the scoring.
They then cut into a 4-2 deficit in the sixth when Yunel Escobar, ever the drama queen, dropped Tulowitzki’s routine popper by the mound, Martin singled and Andrelton Simmons threw away the relay on a potential double-play grounder by Smoak.
The Blue Jays’ best chance at a big blow coming in the fourth, when a hit and two walks loaded the bases with two out, lefty Jose Alvarez took over from Meyer, Darwin Barney hit for Goins, and on the first pitch a potential grand slam hooked just to the wrong side of the foul pole.
A lazy fly ball to right on the next pitch ended the threat, and really, that in a sense sums up how things have been going for the Blue Jays.
The complement to that piece of misfortune came in the bottom of the third, when a single and two walks loaded the bases with one out for Trout, who Latos rallied to get on a weak fly ball to right. But Latos couldn’t wriggle out of trouble, as Pujols squeaked a 2-2 sinker just past Coghlan down the third-base line for a bases-clearing double that put the Angels up 3-2.
Things stayed there until the fifth when Trout ambushed an 89.4 mph fastball outside the zone and sent it screaming out to right field at 105.4 mph for a 4-2 Angels lead. The guy’s pretty good at baseball.
Casey Lawrence covers for Aaron Sanchez and with Happ being pushed back after his throwing session Thursday didn’t go as well as hoped, Latos will remain in the rotation. Lawrence may get a second start, as well, if Sanchez isn’t ready to go.
Pitching coach Peter Walker handicapped it this way before the game: “Sanchez possible. Happ most likely not.”
Given how deep into the bullpen they went Friday, other reinforcements may be necessary for Saturday, too. At least Bautista, with a big assist from Biagini, ensured it wasn’t in vain.
“It’s a work in progress, it’s a challenge all year long, not just for me but for everybody to stay sharp. Sometimes it comes in bunches and goes the wrong way. I’ve just got to be more consistent,” said Bautista, who is now 8-for-61 with 10 walks and 24 strikeouts. “It’s just consistency and seeing the ball and being able to trust what my eyes are telling me. Today was a good day, hopefully we have some more coming up.”
