MINNEAPOLIS – To be fully effective with his best-in-the-game change-up, Marco Estrada needs his fastball to be a consistent weapon and traditionally it has been. Throughout his career, opponents have never managed to bat more than .252 against the heater he leans on at least 50 per cent of the time, and the better it is the harder it is for hitters to time up his change-up.
Yet this season, Estrada’s fastball has been getting hit hard, a trend that continued early but changed late as the right-hander went five-plus innings in what finished as a 7-4 comeback win in 10 innings for the Toronto Blue Jays over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night.
Joe Mauer opened the scoring in the first by parking a 3-1 four-seamer over the wall in centre field and Eddie Rosario cashed in a Max Kepler walk with a double to right off another heater later in the inning. From then on Estrada generated five outs with his fastball – three on line drives, one on a flyout and one a swinging strike three – as he put up four straight zeroes.
“I’ve got to locate that pitch better, because I do throw a lot of them,” Estrada said of his fastball. “I know I don’t throw very hard. That’s the reason why it’s happening – if I’m not locating that pitch at 88, 89 miles an hour, it’s going to get hit a long ways. I have less room for error than most pitchers do, so I need to get better with throwing four-seam fastballs where I want to. Plain and simple, I’ve got to make better pitches.”
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That held true even when he didn’t use the heater in the sixth – after the second homer of the night from Kendrys Morales, a late lineup add in place of Steve Pearce whose ribcage tightened up during batting practice, gave the Blue Jays a 3-2 lead. Estrada then gave up a double to Eduardo Escobar on a change-up before Rosario ripped a cutter over the wall in right field to put the Twins back up 4-3.
The two-run shot was the first Estrada had allowed on a cutter this year – of the other eight he’s surrendered, seven have been on four-seamers, one on a change-up. Coming into the night, 19 of the 30 hits he’d allowed also came off fastballs, nine were on change-ups and two on curveballs, per Baseball Savant.
The final split Tuesday was three and three with the one errant cutter, spoiling what could have been a solid outing after three starts in which he allowed 14 earned runs in 14 innings.
“It started off slow, I was having trouble locating pitches, finally got out of the first inning, it took me a little while in the second, but after that I threw the ball pretty well,” said Estrada. “The last inning, I tried to throw a cutter in, I got it in there, kind of, but it wasn’t the right pitch to throw … he hit the ball pretty well. But it is getting better, I’m feeling better, now I’ve just got to make better pitches.”
The Blue Jays, at least, kept him from wearing another L, as Justin Smoak opened the eighth with a walk, Yangervis Solarte followed with a double and Kevin Pillar delivered a sacrifice fly that tied it up 4-4.
Things stayed there until a 10th-inning poopshow by the Twins, which included two wild pitches to score runs, an infield single from Aledmys Diaz to plate another run and the first stolen base by Morales since Oct. 2, 2009.
Pillar was the catalyst for the frame with a leadoff double off John Curtiss, his 10th straight extra-base hit to leave him one short of Jose Cruz Jr.’s club record established in 2000.
“I’m trying to hit the ball hard, trying to swing at good pitches – it’s been nice,” said Pillar. “It’s not anything I think about doing, I’m really just enjoying this ride. I feel like I’m in the zone right now, staying in the zone, I’m going up with a good plan and I’m staying with it. Hopefully it continues.”
An out later, Morales was walked intentionally for the second straight at-bat, Pillar stole third and then, incredibly, Morales swiped second, unchallenged, as the Twins didn’t want to risk a delayed double-steal. Luke Maile walked to load the bases, a wild pitch scored Pillar, Diaz’s infield single with the infield in plated pinch-runner Gift Ngoepe, and Maile then crossed on another wild pitch that earned Curtiss a hook.
“(John Gibbons) told me before I went out to hit that if the situation came, they were going to give me the steal and to stop in the middle to try and draw a throw and maybe get KP to go home,” Morales said through interpreter Josue Peley. “The play worked. It’s a bonus to get a stolen base, but we’re just happy the plan worked and we got a win.”
Roberto Osuna closed things out for his eighth save.
Morales, who only learned of his start after batting practice and didn’t take any left-handed swings beforehand, singled in the second to end an 0-for-21 stretch and started the rally back from a 2-0 deficit in the fifth with a solo shot.
“The baseball is round and comes in a square box, so anything can happen,” Morales said of his unusual breakout day. “I never lost my confidence but of course this will do good for me. I’ve been feeling pretty good, things just weren’t going the way I wanted.”
Maile followed Morales’ first homer with a single and eventually came around on a Smoak base hit to centre field for a 3-2 Blue Jays lead. The Twins have been playing a four-man outfield versus Smoak with three infielders on the right side of the diamond but couldn’t in that situation as the Blue Jays had men on the corners.
Gibbons said the tightness Pearce experienced was mild and that he was pulled from the lineup because, “those things can get ugly so we thought, let’s not play him.” He’ll be re-evaluated in the morning before Wednesday’s series finale.
As for Estrada, he was relieved things turned out well even though he gave back a lead after Gibbons showed faith in him by sending him back out for another frame.
“There’s just no giving up on this team. Whether we’re up or we’re down, there’s a lot of energy in that dugout, and it’s a lot of fun being part of this team right now,” said Estrada. “I know I’ve struggled these last few games and it sucks, but I’m happy to be out there with these guys. I’m having a lot of fun with them and I’ve just got to do my job. I want people to have confidence in me and believe that I’m a good pitcher and contribute to what’s going on right now.”
Note: Josh Donaldson played seven innings at third base in single-A Dunedin’s 5-2 win over Bradenton on Tuesday, going 2-for-2 with a walk and an RBI. It was his first game in the field and he had three assists along with one fielding error.
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