Upton, Blue Jays overcome 5-run deficit, Twins’ skid hits 9

“It probably wasn’t good, none of my numbers are good”, Smoak said with a chuckle before a reporter told him the specifics.

The majority of the team has played with Navarro before as well, so they know exactly what they’re adding to the clubhouse culture. The Twins jumped ahead 5-0 after the top half of the fourth and the Jays chipped away, scoring a run in the bottom of the fourth, two in the sixth, three in the seventh and two in the eighth courtesy of Upton’s heroics.

Upton Jr. hit an RBI triple past a diving outfielder and continued home on a misplay, completing Toronto’s rally from a five-run deficit and sending the AL East-leading Blue Jays over the Minnesota Twins 8-7 Saturday.

Smoak, Martin, Josh Donaldson and Darwin Barney homered for the Blue Jays.

“The offense came to life and it was a big night”, manager John Gibbons said.

“He stepped up tonight”, Gibbons said.

Some call it a Little League home run others would simply call it an inside-the-park home run; but regardless, the Twins lost in heartbreaking fashion on Saturday to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Plouffe lead off the fourth for the Twins with a walk and then moved to third on a single by Eddie Rosario and scored on a Miguel Sano single.

Francisco Liriano gave up four runs and two hits in five innings to win for the first time in four starts since Toronto got him a trade with Pittsburgh on August 1. He also struck out seven and walked four while throwing just 59 of his 102 pitches for strikes.

“He’s doing better today, still progressing from a little bit of a quad issue that he’s been trying to fight through here for about a week now”, Molitor said. Jays starter Marcus Stroman was charged with five runs on nine hits through six innings with Bo Schultz giving up two.

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Francisco Liriano throws to first base to force out Minnesota Twins’ Eduardo Escobar during second-inning baseball game action in Toronto, Friday, Aug. 26, 2016. Plouffe got two runs back for the Twins the following inning, hitting a two-run shot for a 7-3 lead. Donaldson added to the barrage with a two-run homer three batters later. He reached base on a single, stole second, advanced to third on Joe Mauer’s pop fly to left field then ran home when Stroman bounced the ball off the plate.

Schultz has a 3.00 earned-run average in 12 innings pitched for Toronto this season. Martin capped the inning with a three-run double off Pat Light. Turner has been a reliever since missing the 2014 season, but did make two starts in the minors in 2015. “As a kid growing up, you always dream of pitching here one day”, Albers said. “A lot of things coming in there around the same speed”.

Smoak and Donaldson hit RBI singles in the five-run seventh, Bautista scored on a force out from Edwin Encarnacion, and Martin hit a two-run blast for a 15-5 lead. Minnesota has been given odds of +200 to win, while the over/under total is listed at 10 runs.