Toronto Blue Jays’ Jose Bautista hits a two-run home run in front of Baltimore Orioles’ catcher Steve Clevenger during the first inning at Rogers Centre on Sept. 6.Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press
While Toronto's Rogers Centre has been a rocking party house of late – Sunday's game was the third consecutive sellout and 18th of the season – for the man in the middle for the visiting Baltimore Orioles, it has turned into a veritable house of horrors.
Coming in, Chris Tillman had given up 13 runs over 5 2/3 innings in his first two starts here this season – and that was against the only slightly less potent pretrade deadline Toronto Blue Jays. Now facing the likes of new faces Troy Tulowitzki and Ben Revere, third time wasn't exactly the charm as he tacked on another six runs to his gaudy totals in just three innings of work.
Suffice to say, Tillman will be glad to be skipping town at this point, even on the back of a 10-4 game and 2-1 series loss – Toronto's fifth series win in a row.
"It's a tough lineup. It's a lineup where you have to execute consistently," he said. "I'd make two or three good pitches in a row and then I'd make a mistake, and they'd make me pay."
There was certainly no room for sentiment in a roasting hot ballpark on the Labour Day long weekend.
After Josh Donaldson got things rolling by driving in Revere, the leadoff man, in the bottom of the first, Jose Bautista blew the game wide open, firing a two-run shot over the left-field fence for his 33rd home run of the season and second of the weekend.
There was no respite for Tillman either, as just two innings later Tulowitzki clobbered his fifth home run since coming over from the Colorado Rockies to put the home side up by five. When Kevin Pillar led off the bottom of the fourth with a solo shot to left field, Tillman's day was done.
Not that Pillar felt bad about it. After reaching double figures in home runs for the first time, he was more concerned with the silent treatment he got from his teammates back in the dugout.
"When you've got guys hitting 30 home runs, no one cares about your 10," he said afterward in sarcastic fashion.
While the Blue Jays starter, Marco Estrada, didn't have a day to forget like Tillman, he didn't exactly bring his A-game, either. He struggled to get out of the first inning, walking Manny Machado and Chris Davis, but after 23 pitches finally got out of the jam with minimal damage.
He ended up going just five innings, his shortest start since July 24 in Seattle, but held Baltimore hitless until the fifth inning.
Ryan Flaherty's two-run home run in the next at-bat were the only two runs he gave up, meaning Estrada has now given up three or fewer runs in eight consecutive starts. Still, that was of little comfort to the 32-year-old Mexican-born right-hander.
"I was effectively wild I guess, especially that first inning," he said. "I had no idea what I was doing out there. Everything was up and somehow I got out of the inning and got a little bit better as the game went on, but it was one of those days. I didn't have my stuff. I wasn't locating at all."
Still he got the win, boosted by the fact that for the 22nd time this season – an ongoing franchise record – Toronto scored 10 or more runs in a game, and every member of the starting lineup had at least one hit Sunday. Josh Donaldson, Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion all padded the lead with a run batted in each in the sixth inning, while Ezequiel Carrera, pinch-hitting for Bautista, rounded out the scoring in the eighth.
The New York Yankees' 6-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday keeps Toronto's American League East division lead over the Bronx Bombers at 1 1/2 games, approaching a crucial four-game series at Yankee Stadium on Thursday. But given the way the team is rolling at present, the fear factor that may have been there in years past is a distant memory.
"To us I don't think it matters or not if we're playing at home or on the road," Bautista said. "We're playing good baseball, we're gelling. … It's fun to get out of bed in the morning and show up at the yard even though it's September and we're all tired. It seems like we found renewed energy in the fact we're in first place and we have a chance."
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ON DECK
The Toronto Blue Jays embark on a 10-game road trip beginning Monday afternoon in Boston with the first of three games against the Red Sox at fabled Fenway Park. After that, the Blue Jays head into New York for a crucial four-game set against the Yankees. Drew Hutchison starts for the Blue Jays in Wednesday's game in Boston in what has to be considered a critical juncture in his season. With the return of Marcus Stroman on the horizon, somebody on the Blue Jays pitching staff may have to miss some starts, unless the Jays decide to go with a six-man rotation. Should the Blue Jays not go with a six-man crew, the odd-man out could be Hutchison, who has been inconsistent. Hutchison's 13-3 record appears impressive until you dig a little deeper. He relies too heavily on the mighty Toronto offence to help him along: the Blue Jays have scored six or more runs in 19 of his starts. And his splits at home compared to when he pitches on the road – 11-2 with a 2.91 earned-run average at Rogers Centre compared to a 2-1 mark with a 9.00 ERA on the road – are alarming. A good outing on Wednesday would make it a tougher decision for the baseball team's deep thinkers.
Monday, 1:35 p.m. (ET): Boston RHP Rick Porcello (6-12, 5.21) vs. Toronto LHP Mark Buehrle (14-6, 3.53).
Tuesday, 7:10 p.m. (ET): Boston LHP Henry Owens (2-2, 5.87) vs. Toronto RHP R.A. Dickey (10-10, 4.09).
Wednesday, 7:10 p.m. (ET): Boston RHP Joe Kelly (9-6, 4.84) vs. Toronto RHP Drew Hutchison (13-3, 5.07).
All games at Fenway Park.
Robert MacLeod
Paul Attfield