Toronto Blue Jays' Josh Donaldson celebrates with teammates after hitting a three run game winning homer against the Chicago White SoxFrank Gunn/The Canadian Press
Josh Donaldson was thinking curveball but got a fastball and he still knew what to do with it.
At the time it did not look good for the Toronto Blue Jays, who had already blown four leads in their game Tuesday night against the Chicago White Sox.
Now they were down two with David Robertson, the White Sox closer who has always given Toronto a hard time during his long tenure with the Yankees, on the mound looking to close things out in the bottom of the ninth inning.
But Robertson allowed the first two batters he faced in the inning in Josh Thole and Jose Reyes to hit their way on base, setting the stage for what was to come.
Sitting on a 1-1 count after two fastballs, Robertson decided to test the Toronto batter a third time with his heat and Donaldson was ready.
He blasted a drive the opposite way over the wall in right field, a three-run walk-off home run that provided the Blue Jays with an improbable 10-9 victory over the White Sox.
As Donaldson's home run, his second of the game, cleared the wall, the fans at Rogers Centre cheered themselves silly as the third baseman loped around the bases.
At home plate he was greeted by a cavalcade of teammates all jumping up and down like they were on pogo sticks as they tore the jersey off Donaldson's back in wild celebration.
"That's probably one of the better feelings in baseball is to hit a walk off homer," Donaldson said. "You don't get the opportunity very often. And when you're able to do it, it definitely feels rewarding."
It was a wild ending to a wild night of baseball.
It was not very stylish with three errors and a number of other defensive follies that kept both teams within maiming distance of each other.
In the end, the Blue Jays just displayed more firepower, especially at the top of the lineup with Reyes, Jose Bautista and Donaldson combining to record eight of Toronto's 13 hits.
Bautista went 3-for-4 with three doubles while driving in five runs. Donaldson went 4-for-4 with two home runs, four RBIs while scoring five runs.
With Reyes back in the lineup for his second game after a lengthy injury layoff, the trio displayed the kind of potency at the top of the batting order that the Blue Jays have dreamed of.
"Those guys are, regardless of the pitcher, they pose a real threat," said R.A. Dickey, the Toronto starter. "I mean, when we have Reyes back and it pushes everybody back and slots everybody in the right place in the order, it's really difficult for a pitcher.
"And I can speak from experience when you're facing a lineup like that there's no real breathing room."
For Donaldson, who was obtained by the Blue Jays in an off-season trade with the Oakland's A's, it was his second walk-off home run of the season for his new team. His two home runs give him 12 on the season.
"After I swung through the [0-1] fastball I was kind of sitting curveball a little bit," Donaldson said, describing his big at-bat. "My eyes had already seen kind of two heaters right there and I was just able to make the adjustment real quick and was fortunate enough to hit it out."
Toronto manager John Gibbons described it as a magic moment orchestrated by a player who thrives in big, pressure-filled situations.
"It's so hard to do, it's so hard to come through with walk-off hits," Gibbons said. "Those are rare. Some guys kind of thrive for that moment and he's got that mindset.
"He's just one of those guys, he just wants to be the guy, the hero. And he's done it many a time."