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Ryan Goins #17 of the Toronto Blue Jays celebrates as he hits a game-winning two-run home run in the tenth inning during MLB game action against the Cleveland Indians on September 1, 2015 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images

Dalton Pompey said he missed it all, from the springy new artificial carpet at Rogers Centre that was once his domain to roam to the jocular nature of the Toronto Blue Jays clubhouse.

There are a few new members now since Pompey was a regular inhabitant at the start of the season. And the 22-year-old Mississauga native made sure he got to the stadium bright and early to get the greetings over with.

"I was actually one of the first people in there," Pompey said on Tuesday before the Blue Jays played the Cleveland Indians. "After about an hour or so guys started showing up. Guys I haven't met, like David Price and Troy Tulowitzki, they introduced themselves."

Once he stepped onto the playing field for batting practice, it was like he had never left.

The centre fielder joined infielder Munenori Kawasaki on the field behind the batting cage, where a number of preferred customers gather each home game to try to glad-hand with their Blue Jays heroes as they warm up.

Pompey and Kawasaki patiently went down the line, signing their autographs on balls and baseball caps and posing for the odd picture before it was time to take their cuts in the cage.

Several hours later, in a sweltering Rogers Centre, their teammates provided them with a nice welcome back, pulling out a tense 5-3 10-inning victory over the stubborn Indians.

Ryan Goins provided the heroics, cranking a two-run home run to right field off Cleveland reliever Bryan Shaw that brought the crowd of just more than 41,000 to their feet in wild celebration.

As Goins ran to home plate, he was met by a mob of joyous teammates, who then proceeded to rip his jersey apart in delirious celebration.

Pompey actually got his feet wet in the game, pinch-running for Justin Smoak at first base in the bottom of the seventh in a 2-2 ballgame after Smoak earned a leadoff walk.

Pompey used his good speed to steal second and then third and would come home to put Toronto in front 3-2 on a sacrifice fly lifted to centre by Kevin Pillar.

But Roberto Osuna, Toronto's normally reliable young closer, could not make it stand up, allowing Yan Gomes to tee off for his second home run of the game in the top of the ninth to tie things up.

Michael Brantley also homered in the game for Cleveland, off Toronto starter Marco Estrada in the fourth.

Pompey and Kawasaki were among the five players the Blue Jays summoned from the minor leagues earlier on Tuesday to fill the club's expanded September roster for the coming stretch drive.

The Blue Jays also recalled relievers Aaron Loup and Ryan Tepera, while selecting the contract of Jeff Francis, another pitcher who could be used in long relief.

While the extra bodies will provide him with additional ballast, Gibbons said he doesn't expect the new additions will see that much playing time other than spot duty over the coming weeks.

No sense messing with what seems to be a pretty good recipe for a team already savouring their hold on first place in the American League East over the New York Yankees.

On Wednesday, catcher Josh Thole will rejoin the club from his brief minors sojourn along with possibly another warm body or two.

Pompey was Toronto's starting centre fielder when training camp broke, before the harsh realities of a greenhorn trying to adapt to the pressures of playing in the big leagues ultimately consumed him.

After 23 games, his batting average a whisper at .193 and his defensive play starting to whither, the Blue Jays made the only decision they could and demoted Pompey to Triple-A for additional seasoning.

Pompey's psyche was so shattered that he wound up moving all the way down to Double-A in New Hampshire, where he admitted he had trouble believing how far he had fallen.

"At first, dealing with it was obviously hard," Pompey said. "I just remember being in my hotel room just thinking to myself, 'I'm in Double-A now. I was just in the big leagues two months ago.' But I was determined to get back."

After moving back up to the Bisons in Buffalo, Pompey finished the year hitting .285 with a home run and 18 runs batted in, enough to convince the Blue Jays he deserved another major-league tour of duty in 2015.

"We took a shot on him at the beginning of the season making the team," Gibbons said. "It didn't work out at the moment, but I think he's going to be really, really good."

The Blue Jays scratched out a 2-0 lead on a couple of sacrifice flies lifted by Edwin Encarnacion in the first inning and Jose Bautista in the third.

Gomes connected on his first of the game in the top of the seventh that tied the game at 2-2.

Encarnacion went 0-for-2 in the game to mark an end to his 26-game hitting streak, the longest in the majors this season.

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