KANSAS CITY — Josh Donaldson was no worse for wear Saturday afternoon after taking an errant Kelvin Herrera pitch flush in the jaw Friday night.
“I feel good; I feel fine,” Donaldson said, his left chin still swollen from the pitch. “It could be a lot worse. I’m thankful that it’s not.”
It happened in the top of the ninth when an 87-mph change-up ran up and in striking Donaldson on the left side of his face. The Blue Jays third baseman thinks the pitch caught the bottom portion of his helmet’s earflap and his jaw at the same time, which may have lessened the impact.
Donaldson’s jaw immediately went numb as he dropped to the ground holding his face. He initially thought he may have lost some teeth but quickly determined they were all intact and that he wasn’t bleeding at all. He got up and began walking to first base before Blue Jays manager John Gibbons and trainer George Poulis could even talk to him.
It wasn’t the first time Donaldson’s been hit in the head; he says it happened several times as he climbed the ranks of the minor leagues where many pitchers don’t have great command of their pitches. He’s also accustomed to being pitched inside aggressively at the major league level, where pitchers often try to back him off the plate.
“I think every team throws inside. Sometimes they just get away,” Donaldson said. “It’s humid here. Balls can get slippery.”
While there’s a history of bad blood between the Blue Jays and Royals, it’s extremely unlikely that Herrera’s pitch was intentional. There was a runner on first with two out, Herrera already had two strikes on Donaldson, and the Royals were trying to keep the Blue Jays from increasing the lead they’d taken earlier in the inning.
“[The Royals] have a lot of guys that throw really hard, so people take notice when they hit guys. But I don’t think it’s anything out of the ordinary,” Donaldson said. “It’s part of the game. Nobody wants to see it. But I don’t think he was trying to do it intentionally by any means.”
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Joaquin Benoit earned his first save in nearly a year Friday night, pitching a scoreless ninth inning to seal Toronto’s 4-3 victory. With Roberto Osuna and Jason Grilli both unavailable, the closer’s role fell to the veteran right-hander who only joined the club a little more than a week ago.
Such is life in the back end of Toronto’s bullpen, where Benoit and Grilli, both well-travelled veterans who came over in mid-season trades, have settled in to set-up roles behind Osuna. Gibbons says he has a healthy amount of trust in Grilli and Benoit to pitch high leverage situations as both veterans have worked as closers earlier in their careers.
“Everyone knows Osuna’s the guy,” Gibbons said. “But we’ve got multiple guys that can do it. I think we’re covered late.”
Grilli has been a revelation for the Blue Jays, pitching to a 2.08 ERA in 23 appearances after struggling earlier this season in Atlanta where he had a 5.29 ERA in 21 games. Benoit appears to following a similar path; he’s now pitched six scoreless innings since becoming a Blue Jay after posting a 5.18 ERA in 26 appearances with Seattle.
“We didn’t really know what to expect when he came over,” Gibbons said. “He’s been around a while. We saw him when he came in for Seattle against us, and the arm was still there. But, shoot, he’s been perfect since he’s been here. And it seems like he enjoys it. I think he was happy to come over here.”
That much is certain, as Benoit went from a Mariners team floundering in the middle of the AL West pack to a Blue Jays outfit that came into Saturday with a share of the AL East lead. He says he feels a much better energy in the Blue Jays clubhouse and has been invigorated by pitching for a team that’s playing for something.
“The change of scenery was really good for me. Obviously this team is in the hunt and I’ve been pitching in situations where it counts more,” Benoit said. “My last couple outings in Seattle, they were situations where they were losing or they were just meaningless games. I believe that I pitch better when I have a little bit of an adrenaline rush. I think that’s part of what’s been happening lately.”
Benoit hasn’t been pitching any differently in Toronto than he was in Seattle. He still leans on his 94-95 mph fastball, mixing in his slider and splitter off of it. He says he’s been following Russell Martin’s game-calling closely and not shaking off the veteran catcher.
“Nothing’s changed. It’s just the adrenaline rush. It’s so much better when the game is on the line,” Benoit said. “I feel a lot more of a winning atmosphere here.”