TORONTO – Even John Gibbons was curious to see what kind of response his Toronto Blue Jays delivered Saturday after the dismal slop show they delivered a night earlier.
Was it just one really bad night? Had some of players pulled the chute? Was all their fight gone?
“Get rid of that game,” Gibbons said during his morning session with media. “We don’t always play good baseball, but normally you always get a good effort. I’m just going to write that one off, and see how we bounce back.”
Well, it was far from perfect, and the Tampa Bay Rays played the game under protest from the fourth inning on, but Gibbons had plenty to like in a 5-4, 10-inning victory Saturday afternoon.
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Mark Buehrle pitched better than his line of three runs over 6.1 innings suggests. Aaron Sanchez delivered a boss relief appearance to prevent the game from slipping away. Dioner Navarro’s two-run homer in the seventh was the type of game-changing blow too often lacking for the Blue Jays of late. And after Casey Janssen blew things in the ninth, Colby Rasmus opened the 10th with a two-strike bunt single against the shift, stole second and scored on Jose Reyes’ walk-off, two-out single.
One game by no means fixes everything, but the Blue Jays (66-63) can win a series from the Rays (63-66) by taking care of business on Sunday, and all they have left at this point is trying to win as often as they can and seeing where that takes them.
“Everybody feels that way, that we had more fight, because we came from behind,” Reyes said. “Every time you come from behind that’s good, hopefully we can play more consistent baseball from now and see what happens. …
“(Friday) was a tough game for us, but we put it in the past and got a W today, it’s all about getting Ws from now on, every game, it’s going to be huge for us.”
Joe Maddon issued his protest over a disputed replay challenge by the Blue Jays that crew chief Bob Davidson allowed in the fourth. Wil Myers, aboard on an infield single thanks to Danny Valencia’s late throw from third base, was caught leaning by Buehrle but called safe on a pick-off attempt by Bill Welke.
Buehrle stepped back to the rubber, Yunel Escobar, the batter, stepped into the box and exactly when Gibbons came out to challenge is in dispute. The rule that states, “the next play shall commence when the pitcher is on the rubber preparing to start his delivery and the batter has entered the batter’s box.”
Davidson, speaking to a pool reporter, said the challenge was legitimate because “(Escobar) was just about getting in, but I’m looking at Gibbons and he’s coming out and he’s not a speed merchant, and I thought, ‘it’s on time.’ We want to get the play correct, that’s what we’re out here for, so that was my thinking on that.”
Maddon complained the Gibbons came out late before the review began, and issued his official protest once the call was overturned and Myers called out.
The Rays trailed 2-1 at the time, and if the league office decides that the game was sufficiently altered by the decision, they could force a replay from that point onward. It’s unlikely, but it happens.
“It was inappropriate for Bob to do what he did, permit that to happen,” Maddon said. “I trust that they are going to interpret the rule properly and get us back to that point in the game.”
Gibbons wasn’t very concerned and said he’d be “surprised” if the game was replayed.
“Umpires are trying to get it right, if it’s that close, they’ve been looking at some plays like that,” he added. “I thought they did the right thing. … If there’s a little time difference, violation, whatever you want to call it, they still want to get it right.”
Buehrle fell behind 1-0 in the third on Ben Zobrist’s run-scoring bunt single during which he collided with Valencia trying to field the ball.
The Blue Jays replied immediately against Jeremy Hellickson in the bottom of the inning when Jose Reyes’ liner went off the glove of a diving Brandon Guyer in left for a double, and then Melky Cabrera cashed him in with another double.
The game stayed there until the seventh when Jose Molina’s RBI single and Sean Rodriguez’s dunk double into the left-field corner gave the Rays a 3-2 lead. Buehrle left with men on second and third but Sanchez came on and induced a grounder to second from Desmond Jennings and caught Ben Zobrist looking to end the threat.
“I think I got worn out there towards the end,” Buehrle said. “It’s been a while since I got up to the 90-pitch count, between going three and four innings, getting taken out in Chicago around 70 pitches. I felt great, just location wasn’t there that last inning and they put the ball in play and took the lead. That’s frustrating but I guess it’s part of the game.”
A deep fly ball out to the wall in right by Adam Lind ended Hellickson’s day but Brad Boxberger surrendered a ground-rule double to Edwin Encarnacion before Navarro sent a 2-2 pitch over the wall in right for his 10th homer of the season.
Left-handed hitters were 1-for-their-last-59 against Boxberger prior to the home run, and Rasmus followed with a double before Grant Balfour came on and got a couple of groundballs to end the threat.
Sanchez delivered a scoreless eighth and Janssen took over in the ninth, blowing his fourth save of the season, when James Loney’s soft liner just over a leaping Valencia at third – if only Hasheem Thabeet had been on the hot corner – cashed in a Myers leadoff walk.
Kevin Kiermaier gave the Blue Jays an out by rounding third too aggressively and Jennings then grounded out to end the ninth, setting the stage for Reyes, who hooked the first pitch from reliever Jeff Beliveau into left field, allowing Rasmus to charge home and slide through Curt Casali at the plate.
“We stayed in the game and I think that had a little bit to do with (Friday),” Rasmus said. “They kind of got on us early and were beating us down. They were upbeat for whatever reason. But today I feel like we were just playing and were able to hang in there with them. Navarro came up with the big home run to get us back in the lead and we just had some big contributions.”
The win showed some spirit, and the Blue Jays must maintain that fight, post-season odds be damned.
Note: The Blue Jays selected the contract of reliever Sergio Santos after the game and they will make a corresponding roster move before Sunday’s series finale. They also need to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Santos, which can be easily done by placing Neil Wagner on the 60-day DL.