Ezequiel Carrera of the Toronto Blue Jays drops a fly ball in the third inning leading to two runs against the Chicago White Sox at Rogers Centre.Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images
It was warm and sunny for the afternoon start of the Toronto Blue Jays' game against the Chicago White Sox, a perfect day for the roof at Rogers Centre to be open.
But for Ezequiel Carrera, the wide-open lid was an eyesore. Literally. The Blue Jays right fielder was minding his business in a runless game in the third inning when Chicago's Jose Abreu stepped into the batter's box to square off against Marco Estrada.
There were runners at first and second with two out when Abreu lofted a high, lazy fly ball to shallow right that by all rights should have been the third out.
Estrada, Toronto's starting pitcher, had already started walking off the field when Carrera, shades on, started to experience difficulty tracking the ball in the harsh glare of the sun.
He lifted his right arm into the sky in an effort to blot out the sun with his glove, which is the way they teach you.
It didn't help. Temporarily blinded, Carrera was forced to avert his gaze at the last moment as he fell to the ground, the ball dropping next to him on the artificial turf.
Abreu had himself a cheap double that scored the first two runs and that kind of set the tone for what was a disappointing afternoon for the home side.
Josh Donaldson gave it the old college try again for the Jays, clocking another monster shot in the bottom of the ninth – his fourth round-tripper in three games – to force extra innings. But the White Sox (20-24) got to the Toronto bullpen in the 10th. They scored twice and hung on for a 5-3 victory to avoid a three-game sweep by the Jays (22-27).
"We felt like we're playing pretty well," Donaldson said. "I'm not here to make excuses when the ball gets in the sun and scores two runs. That's just baseball.
"At the end of the day, we kept pushing it and gave ourselves a chance to win."
The Jays finished their home stand 5-5 and head out for the next six games, starting Friday in Minnesota against the Twins.
"Good and bad," manager John Gibbons said in assessing Toronto's overall play the past 10 outings. "Still a long way to go."
The Jays have reason to be optimistic that they can march up the standing in the middling American League East.
Jose Reyes returned to the starting lineup on Monday, back at shortstop after a prolonged injury absence. He had two hits on Wednesday, including a double. Jose Bautista's sore throwing shoulder seems to be coming around and might allow him to return to the outfield next week.
Rookie second baseman Devon Travis, who got off to a blazing start before being sidelined almost two weeks ago with a sore shoulder, is also close to returning to the lineup. Travis said a cortisone shot to the shoulder has worked wonders and he took some ground balls before Wednesday's game. However, he has yet to swing a bat.
Travis is set to come off the disabled list on Monday.
Given the injuries, Gibbons said it's lucky no AL East team has broken from the pack. "We've caught a break to this point, that's for sure," he said.
Chicago led 3-2 heading into the bottom of the ninth, when Donaldson slammed his 13th home run of the season to tie it. The victim was Chicago closer David Robertson, who also served up a three-run walk-off dinger to Donaldson in Tuesday's 10-9 Jays win.
Abreu quickly de-energized the crowd in the 10th, greeting rookie Jays reliever Roberto Osuna with a drive to right that bounced off the bottom of the wall. The ball scooted back past Danny Valencia, and by the time he tracked it down Abreu was at third.
Adam LaRoche then drove in the winning run with a single to right, snapping Osuna's runless innings steak at 121/3 innings.