MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — It wasn’t easy. And for ten-and-two-thirds innings it wasn’t pretty or painless or especially confidence-inspiring. But on Thursday night, the Toronto Blue Jays got a win.
In the 11th inning, Troy Tulowitzki lined a 90-mph cutter from Minnesota Twins reliever Fernando Abad into right-centre field, scoring Ezequiel Carrera from second base and sparking a rare, jubilant, long-overdue celebration in the visitors dugout as the Blue Jays managed a 3-2 win in the first of four games in Minneapolis.
“It was a really positive atmosphere in the dugout there,” said Blue Jays acting manager DeMarlo Hale. “It was a good feeling. There was cheering, people pushing each other, positive thoughts, positive comments, just, let’s do what it takes.”
The game-winning hit was especially vindicating for Tulowitzki, who nearly blew the game open in the top of the ninth when he drove a pitch more than 400 feet to dead centre field, thinking it was gone off the bat only to watch it fall into an outfielder’s glove for an out.
At the plate against Abad, Tulowitzki quickly picked up two strikes, and also quickly began managing his expectations.
“Honestly, I was telling myself from the beginning that I was going to get a lucky hit. I was going to break my bat or something like that, because that’s how this game works,” Tulowitzki said. “When you hit a 410-foot ball, usually it leaves the park. But that was the way it was going. We had to grind this one out.”
Going into Thursday’s game with a new-look lineup, a lively pre-game clubhouse, and a matchup with the American League’s worst team, the Blue Jays were hoping they’d created the perfect set of circumstances to help break them out of their frustrating, season-long offensive slump.
But for the first eight innings, it didn’t work out, as the Blue Jays’ new batting order struggled to spark any kind of offence against Twins right-hander Ervin Santana. The Blue Jays managed just four hits over eight innings against Santana, and scored less than four runs for the fourth consecutive game.
And then it didn’t work out in the ninth, when Michael Saunders roped a double to right field with two out before Tulowitzki worked a 3-1 count and absolutely crushed a 95-mph fastball, hitting it to the deepest part of the ballpark where Twins outfielder Danny Santana raced back to collect it for the third out of the inning.
And, yet again, it didn’t work out in the 10th, when the Blue Jays got a runner to third base with less than two out against Twins reliever Brandon Kintzler—he’s pitched all of 11.1 big-league innings since 2015 with a 5.56 ERA—who was throwing nothing but fastballs. But Russell Martin and Jose Bautista both grounded out to end the threat.
And, man, it sure looked like it might not work out again in the 11th, when the Blue Jays put two runners on for Saunders, who flew out on the first pitch, and then Tulowitzki, who quickly got to two strikes against Abad before mercifully driving in the winning run.
“We needed a win pretty bad, so I was glad we were able to pull this off,” said Blue Jays starting pitcher Marco Estrada. “Man, Tulo’s taking some really great at-bats. I’m really happy to see that. He’s putting up really good swings; really good at-bats.”
On the mound, Estrada did what Estrada does, living on the edges of the strike zone, earning strikeouts with his change-up, and elevating his fastball to get nine flyball outs on a cool night with the breeze blowing in. Estrada said that early on he didn’t feel great on the mound and that he struggled to find a good feel for his change-up. But once he did in the later innings, it was as good as it’s been all season. He used it 27 times, earning seven swinging strikes.
“I didn’t think it was very good early on. I left a few up,” Estrada said. “I know later in the game it was much better. I felt a lot more confident with it.”
Estrada actually could have had a better night if not for some untimely defensive miscues behind him. The Twins got an unearned run early when Blue Jays second baseman Jimmy Paredes—who was making just his 12th start at the position in his six-season MLB career—let a ground ball that should have been a double play skip between his legs and into right field. Twins leadoff hitter Brian Dozier scrambled to third base on the play and was brought home by a long Miguel Sano sacrifice fly on the very next pitch.
Minnesota got another in the third, when No. 9 hitter Danny Santana bunted his way aboard, stole second, and scored on a Joe Mauer single. But that was all the Twins would get off Estrada through eight innings, as the right-hander held Minnesota hitless from the fourth inning on, striking out nine on the night.
“I don’t know what it was early on. I didn’t feel great out there. The more I threw the ball the better I felt out there,” Estrada said. “I’ve got to make sure I go out there and I’m ready to go by the first inning. I can’t keep doing stuff like that. Because next time, one or two runs, that might not be all that happens to me.”
The process of the team’s new-look batting order looked to be working in the first inning, as leadoff hitter Bautista reached base, which led to the Blue Jays bringing both Justin Smoak and Saunders to the plate with runners in scoring position. However, the results—a flyout and a groundout—were less than ideal.
And it didn’t get any better from there. Santana retired 13 straight after an Edwin Encarnacion single in the first, not allowing another base runner until the fifth, when Russell Martin singled with two out. A Kevin Pillar strikeout—he swung over the slider Santana had working all night—put a quick end to that.
But in the sixth, there were signs of life. Josh Donaldson fought back from an 0-2 count to draw Santana’s first walk of the game, before Encarnacion ambushed a first-pitch fastball, sending it 421-feet into the left field seats. It was the hardest ball Encarnacion’s hit all year, coming off the bat at a ridiculous 112-mph to tie the game.
Meanwhile, Roberto Osuna relieved Estrada and retired all six Twins he faced. He gave way to Joe Biagini in the bottom of the 11th, who allowed a single and nothing more, eventually earning a 13-pitch save.
“There’s no doubt it was a big win. The mood was better today in the locker room. We had been down, getting our butts kicked,” Tulowitzki said. “Our pitching once again was good. The bullpen guys were really good. Defensively we could’ve been a little better. Hitting—we got some key hits, we hit some balls hard. So, there were definitely some signs we’re moving in the right direction.”