Jose Bautista crushes grand slam to put Jays in front

The Ignitor met The Ignitor Wednesday night.

“We went out there (Wednesday) and we did what we do best, ” Bautista said.

Angels 4, Indians 3 – C.J. Cron hit a tying two-run single with two outs and the bases loaded in the ninth inning against closer Cody Allen and pinch runner Taylor Featherston scored on a wild pitch, lifting Los Angeles over Cleveland in Anaheim, Calif.

Though 53 games still remain, Donaldson has already matched his career-high with his 29th home run of the season. “He was definitely up early in the game”.

“Our offense was on fire”, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. The right-hander allowed four runs and seven hits in five-plus innings but Toronto won its sixth straight home contest with him on the mound, 7-6 over Kansas City in 11 innings Friday. “Lowe said something to me about it, making a joke in the bullpen”. “I got kind of lucky”. With two out, Joe Mauer singled in a run and Migel Sano hit a 447-foot, three-run homer. “That makes (being here) comfortable, that makes it fun, and it’s really what you come from the ballpark for”.

“I had never thought about it until yesterday”, said Hawkins.

“I was missing over the plate a lot with my cutter and my fastball”, Hughes said. I bounced about 10 of them over there in the chalk.

Minnesota got runners on second and third after Hawkins allowed back-to-back singles and the runners then advanced on a sacrifice bunt. Center fielder Aaron Hicks fouled out to third, and second baseman Brian Dozier lined out to left.

Hutchison has often been the beneficiary of Toronto’s MLB-best offence, as his 10-2 record suggests. Former Twin Ben Revere hit a home run single, Tulo and Donaldson struck out, Bautista walked, and Edwin Encarnacion hit a 2-out 3-run home run.

One inning after Donaldson homered, Bautista hit a grand slam that gave the Blue Jays the lead for good.

The Jays led 9-3 after four innings, but the beleaguered Drew Hutchison gave up four runs – all unearned, owing to Donaldson’s error – in the fifth. The 2nd inning was even worse, as the Jays lead off with singles by Ryan Goins and Kevin Pillar. Revere had his first hit as a Jay ending an 0-for-13 skid when he singled to centre in the fourth. He had gone 0-for-13 since joining Toronto.

Overtaken by Toronto for that second wild-card spot with Tuesday’s 3-1 defeat, Minnesota has dropped 13 of the last 17 to drop two behind the Blue Jays. Hicks, who was moved to the leadoff spot for just the second time this season, was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored. Sano followed with his fifth homer of the season. Plouffe later doubled scoring Mauer and Sano, giving the Twins and rookie Tyler Duffey a 3-0 lead. LOB-Toronto 6, Minnesota 4.

Aaron Hicks this year vs. LHP:.381/.435/.587 with a. 206 Isolated Power (an ISO in the range of hitters like Jose Abreu, Brandon Belt, Adam Jones and Trevor Plouffe). Bautista has a. 235 average with 24 home runs and 75 RBI while Encarnación has a. 246 average with 20 bombs and 60 RBI.

It was a forgettable debut for Duffey, who lasted just 2 innings and gave up 6 earned runs on 5 hits.