Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion celebrate against Tampa Bay on Wednesday.Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images
The ball leaped off Russell Martin's bat with that satisfying crack, a sound that has been rather elusive to the Toronto Blue Jays catcher this season.
Martin watched intently as the cowhide arched up and over the left-field wall – one of the more pleasant hits that Toronto's $82-million (U.S.) man has experienced this year, even if it did occur during batting practice.
And with a coach throwing the ball … from about seven metres away … underhanded.
The equivalent in hockey would be Dion Phaneuf stepping out onto the ice wearing a pair of bob skates or Lance Armstrong riding a bike with training wheels.
You can wisecrack all you want about the visual that unfolded Wednesday afternoon at Rogers Centre, before the Blue Jays took to the field that night against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Martin doesn't care.
He was even wearing a gaudy lime-green headband at the time, as if to trumpet 'Look, it's me.' When you are 1-for-23 at the plate to start a season in which you were being counted on for your leadership capabilities to take your team to the postseason, sometimes the ego has to be checked at the clubhouse door.
"I had a great session with the guys, just felt like I was really driving the ball and just felt good," Martin said about the early BP workout. "And definitely right now I feel much better than I did before taking early BP, so that's a good sign."
Another good sign for the Blue Jays was a top-of-the-lineup batting order that finally began to string some hits together against the Rays.
With Josh Donaldson being elevated from fifth in the batting lineup, where he had been swinging all season, to No. 2 in place of rookie Dalton Pompey, something clicked.
The new order was a good one for Toronto as the Blue Jays pounded Tampa Bay 12-7 and can now send the Rays home with just a split with a win in the series finale on Thursday.
"Pomp's [Pompey] scuffling a little bit, so move him out," said Toronto manager John Gibbons, adding that he has been thinking for some time that Donaldson – who batted .255 a year ago in Oakland with 29 home runs and 98 runs batted in – might be a good fit hitting second.
"He's a threat," Gibbons said.
With all the players wearing No. 42 in honour of Jackie Robinson Day throughout the majors, Donaldson enjoyed his best offensive outing of the season with his new team.
In the first inning, with the Tampa Bay defence shifted to the left side for the heavy pull hitter, Donaldson – on a 2-1 count – muscled a ground ball through the gaping hole on the right for a single.
Jose Bautista, the No. 3 hitter, would add to the insult when he stepped up to the plate and mashed his second home run of the season to left to give Toronto an early 2-0 advantage.
It was a good night for the top of the order that, apart from leadoff hitter Jose Reyes, has been languishing most of the season.
Donaldson was on base the first four times he was up and finished the game going 3-for-5 with three runs batted in.
The Blue Jays scored runs in each of the first five innings and it was a Donaldson double in the three-run second that cashed in two of the baserunners.
Rookie second baseman Devon Travis continued his early season charge, knocking his second home run of the season in the fifth inning.
And Pompey, obviously not pouting after dropping to No. 7 in the order, crushed Toronto's third home run of the night to right field in the seventh.
But the play most of the 15,086 fans in attendance will likely remember was a defensive gem in the seventh inning served up by left fielder Kevin Pillar.
Pillar drifted back on a long drive off the bat off Tim Beckham and then with a mighty jump climbed the wall and caught the ball as it was heading out for a home run.
The crowd went wild in appreciation, giving Pillar a standing ovation as he headed off the field at the conclusion of the inning.
It was all good news for Mark Buehrle, the Toronto starter, who improved to 2-0 on the year, benefiting from another solid offensive output for his teammates for his second consecutive outing.
After totalling just 10 hits in the first two losses of the series against Tampa Bay the Blue Jays stroked 13 hits to back Buehrle, who went six innings, allowing three of the Rays runs off seven hits.
Two of those hits were homers, by Steve Souza Jr. and Mikie Mahtook.
As for Martin, he got to watch all the fireworks from the dugout with Dioner Navarro getting the start behind the plate.