Blue Jays recover from blown lead to earn steadying win

Edwin Encarnacion’s solo shot broke a 5-5 tie to get the Blue Jays a 6-5 win over the Indians.

CLEVELAND – In the early going, the stuff Aaron Sanchez featured on the mound made you think about a potential no-hitter. The Cleveland Indians barely touched him the first time through the order. Abraham Almonte was the only batter to reach, that only due to a Ryan Goins error. A 5-0 lead provided ample margin for error. The 24-year-old right-hander looked poised for a very big night.

Then, in the fourth inning, Sanchez issued a leadoff walk, Devon Travis threw away a tailor-made double play ball, and at the end of a 39-pitch frame both the lead and the all-star were gone. It was almost as unfathomable as Friday night’s ninth-inning meltdown.

The difference Saturday night was that the Toronto Blue Jays had an opportunity to recover, and they did just that in a heartening 6-5 victory. Edwin Encarnacion opened the fifth with a solo shot off Josh Tomlin that provided the winning margin. Two scoreless innings from Joe Biagini – his 14th straight appearance without allowing a run – bridged the gap to the late-game trio of Joaquin Benoit, Jason Grilli and Roberto Osuna, who recovered from a two-homer Friday for his 28th save.

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"Normally, if my memory serves me right, you cough up a lead like that, usually it collapses," said manager John Gibbons. "But we bounced back with the big home run from Eddie and those guys in the ‘pen, Biagini, tremendous job, and we ran it just like (Friday) night and shut them down, which is hard to do."

As steadying as the victory was, this was an uneven night, especially as it pertained to Sanchez, who was removed after 77 pitches total. A 39-pitch inning is an exceptionally long frame, and given the concern around his workload and keeping him healthy, pulling him was likely the safe bet.

Still, given the way he dominated the first three innings, it’s hard to reconcile that Saturday ended as his shortest start of the season.

"That’s what’s unfortunate," said Sanchez. "Who’s to say if I didn’t have to throw (39) pitches that inning, what the night could have looked like because I felt like I was on top of my game, I felt like I was in command. Just with a scrappy team like that, you can’t let them get any leash. They got a little bit and took advantage of it."

The way things unravelled, you can understand why he let out a couple of primal shouts as he returned to the dugout. After Travis threw wide of Ryan Goins on the potential double play ball from Jason Kipnis, Francisco Lindor followed with a single to load the bases and Mike Napoli flew out to centre to bring in a run.

Jose Ramirez fought off a high 1-2 fastball for an RBI single that made it a 5-2 game. Lonnie Chisenhall followed and after fighting off four two-strike pitches, he pummelled the 10th pitch of the at-bat, a 95 mph fastball, over the wall in right field to tie things up.

"I’m just trying to challenge these guys, I felt like I had success all night with my heater and until they did something with it, that’s when they were going to tell me to change my approach," said Sanchez. "It was one of those sinkers that leaked back over the middle, it was right down the middle, tip your hat to (Chisenhall) for battling that long."

The homer laid waste to an early Blue Jays outburst keyed by a bottom of the lineup manager John Gibbons demanded better from after Friday’s 3-2 loss. Darwin Barney ripped a one-out single in the second, Goins followed with a double and both scored when Travis’ roller to third base slipped under the hand of a charging Ramirez.

Sizzling Russell Martin opened the third with his 14th homer, and after a Troy Tulowitzki double and a Michael Saunders fielder’s choice, Melvin Upton Jr., hit his second homer with the Blue Jays, a two-run shot that made it 5-0.

Once the game was tied, Encarnacion wasted little time in restoring the Blue Jays lead with his 35th of the season, a no-doubter out toward adjacent Quicken Loans Arena.

"After a long inning like that our morale is a little down," Encarnacion said through interpreter Josue Peley. "I took advantage of that (and) I hit the ball out."

Said Travis: "I think I was probably the happiest one in our dugout after that one. Eddie, man, he’s clutch, he’s done it his whole career, it’s really big to flip the momentum. That was the biggest thing, we got the momentum back and Eddie’s been huge all year … that was a really big one tonight."

Opportunities to add on after went to waste in the sixth and seventh innings as the Blue Jays finished 1-for-7 hitting with runners in scoring position. Still, minus Josh Donaldson for a second straight game, a juggled lineup managed to at least create some opportunities.

"To be truthful man, just change it up, nothing more than that," Gibbons said of his reasoning for batting Ezequiel Carrera second and Saunders sixth. "Throw some (stuff) up against the wall and see if it works, break it up a little bit, maybe (Carrera) can get on, do something with his legs, maybe we’ll hit and run him. Just for a day, anyway, until we get Josh back. Nothing scientific about it."

On this night a formula that delivered some unexpected results ended up working out just fine.

Notes: The Blue Jays expect Josh Donaldson (jammed right thumb) to return Sunday. "We need him but I think one more day will do him a world of good, get him back rested up, make sure that’s good," said John Gibbons. "Because that can nag and then it affects your swing and we need him offensively." Asked if they might rest Donaldson on Sunday to make Monday’s off-day extra beneficial, Gibbons said no, adding, "every game is important." … Kevin Pillar (left thumb) is on track for a return Tuesday. He went 4-for-5 with a double and two RBIs in his first rehab game with single-A Dunedin. … Roberto Osuna retired the side cleanly in the bottom of the ninth. "This team has a very unique ability to just roll through stuff," said Devon Travis. "There’re a bunch of veterans on this team and they understand that those type of things that happened (Friday) night happen, Roberto is 21 going on 35, he came in here today the same guy, put in his work. Pretty sure he was dying to have that ball in the ninth inning, so it was pretty awesome for him."

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