TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays overcame two early Atlanta Braves leads at Rogers Centre Tuesday afternoon, but they were unable to come back a third time.
Brian McCann’s second home run of the game was enough to give the Braves a 7-6 extra innings win over the Blue Jays in front of 45,224 fans on a day that Toronto starter Brandon Morrow exited the game early.
McCann, who hit back-to-back home runs with Evan Gattis in the sixth inning, took a Thad Weber offering over the right field wall for the winning run. Craig Kimbrel closed out the game in the bottom of the tenth inning on the day he turned 25.
Morrow left the game after two innings due to soreness on the upper part of his forearm. He felt soreness midway through his last start and throughout the week, but hoped his arm would respond well to treatment.
“I didn’t know how it was going to be until I got out there,” he said. “I thought it was going to be okay. It felt loose yesterday but not real explosive, but I had a lot of work done on it.”
Morrow expressed hope that he’d be ready to start five days from now with more rest and treatment. Manager John Gibbons also suggested the injury doesn’t create major long-term concerns.
“We don’t think it’s much of an issue,” Gibbons said. “The doctors don’t think it’s much of an issue. It’s one of those things where we held him out as a precaution.”
Morrow, who had an average fastball velocity of 93.5 m.p.h. entering the game, reached the 90 m.p.h. threshold with just five of his 47 pitches, topping out at 92 m.p.h.
He said he felt constant soreness rather than bursts of pain. And while his fastball had diminished velocity, it was his slider that caused the most discomfort.”
“I couldn’t let it go,” he said. “You’ve got to get on top of that ball a little bit more.”
Ramon Ortiz pitched in relief of Morrow, shutting the Braves down for three innings before surrendering the lead on home runs to Gattis and McCann in the sixth inning.
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THE GLOVES: Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion made costly throwing errors in the first inning. Bautista over-threw third base after Freddie Freeman singled, allowing Andrelton Simmons to score.
Two batters later, Encarnacion threw wildly to first base and Brian McCann reached as Freeman scored.
The Braves returned the favour in the bottom of the frame, as second baseman Dan Uggla and right fielder Jason Heyward let a pop up hit by J.P. Arencibia drop in for a double.
Later in the game four Blue Jays converged in shallow left-centre field before allowing a pop up hit by Andrelton Simmons to drop for a double.
The Blue Jays did make one standout defensive play Tuesday. J.P. Arencibia made a tremendous catch on a pop up in the fifth inning, racing over to the Blue Jays third base dugout and reaching in for the catch before his momentum carried him down the dugout steps.
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THE BATS: The Blue Jays got on the scoreboard early with a four-run first inning that erased a 3-0 Atlanta lead. Arencibia opened the scoring with a run-scoring bloop double and Mark DeRosa tied the game with a two-run double. One batter later, Colby Rasmus put the Blue Jays ahead with a single that plated DeRosa.
Jose Bautista hit a solo home run off of a 62 m.p.h. offering in the bottom of the fourth inning to give the Blue Jays a 5-4 lead. Earlier in the at bat Maholm had come close to hitting Bautista with a pitch up and in.
Bautista also doubled to lead off the seventh inning and scored when Arencibia doubled him home.
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THE ARMS: Morrow lasted just two innings, allowing four earned runs on a day that he was pitching with diminished velocity. He allowed four runs, only two of which were earned, over two innings, allowing four hits, including a home run.
Earlier in the season, the Blue Jays pushed back Morrow’s turn in the rotation after he experienced back and neck soreness. He didn’t pitch between May 5 and May 18, a period of nearly two weeks.
Morrow said he dealt with forearm soreness leading up to the start, but Gibbons indicated that the Blue Jays didn’t think about skipping another outing.
Brett Cecil had an impressive appearance, striking out the side in the eighth inning. The left-hander worked two scoreless innings and recorded four strikeouts while walking one and allowing one hit.
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MORE REST FOR JANSSEN: With the game tied 6-6 in the top of the ninth inning, Gibbons called on Steve Delabar to pitch. Casey Janssen was technically available in the Blue Jays bullpen and seemed like a candidate to enter the game.
However, the Blue Jays had decided not to use Janssen because he’s still experiencing shoulder soreness.
“He needed a couple days off,” Gibbons said. “It’s not like there’s pain. There’s a little discomfort.”
The closer last pitched in a game six days ago on May 22, but had warmed up in the bullpen on a number of separate occasions. Those warm-up sessions contributed to the soreness he felt Tuesday.
“It’s real,” he said. “You’re getting ready to get in a major league game and you’re firing at least the last few (pitches) as hard as you would on a game mound. It’s not pitching in a game, but at the same time it does take its toll.”
Gibbons said he’s hopeful Janssen will be available to pitch Wednesday.
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ROSTER MOVES: Following the game the Blue Jays optioned Thad Weber to triple-A Buffalo and designated Ramon Ortiz for assignment. The Blue Jays will are expected to replace the two right-handers with two more pitchers before Wednesday’s game in Atlanta.
Esmil Rogers is making a spot start, which means the Blue Jays may need to rely on their bullpen extensively again.
“We really don’t know what’s going to happen there” Gibbons said.
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WHERE THINGS STAND: The teams resume the unusual home and home series Wednesday in Atlanta with the first of two night games. The Blue Jays (22-30) are calling on Rogers to make his first start of the season Wednesday.
“He’s going to fill a spot,” Gibbons said. “We think he can do it. He’s stretched out enough.”
Rogers had pitched three innings in consecutive outings, which provides Gibbons with additional confidence in the right-hander’s ability to transition from the bullpen.
Braves right-hander Kris Medlen pitches for Atlanta Wednesday, and the series concludes Thursday when R.A. Dickey faces Mike Minor.