Toronto Blue Jays defeat Los Angeles Angels 5-4 – MLB Update
The Toronto Blue Jays made a perfect comeback by overpowering their league rivals Los Angeles Angels 5-4 for the second straight night at Rogers Centre in Toronto on Sunday, August 14 to take the three-game series 2-1.
Coming from behind with 3-0 trail, the Blue Jays turned the game into an electrifying contest with their powerful hits and line drive singles. Left-fielder Eric Thames launched a ballistic 411-feet long one-run homer off the Angels’ starter Dan Haren, who
otherwise was brilliant in his first three innings, to open the account for his club. Then the Major League home-run leader, Jose Bautista hammered a 425-feet long one-run homer to cut it to 3-2. It was his 34th home-run of the season.
Angels’ Peter Bourjos scored an RBI single in the fifth inning to create some pressure over the Blue Jays’ batting line-up, but Thames has gained his perfect momentum, as he touched his second RBI single of the game in the sixth inning to reduce the lead
to 4-3.
The game then turned into a crucial moment when the Angels’ reliever Scott Downs tossed a perfect eighth inning to send the Blue Jays under pressure. However, he did not get a strong back up from Jordan Walden, who allowed two hits in the eighth inning and
received an RBI single. Then Francisco Rodney also gave away a game-tying run to the Blue Jays’ Brett Lawrie to force the game into a tenth inning.
In the top of the tenth inning, the Blue Jays’ closer Jon Rauch tossed gritty sinkers to get his fifth win of the season. This short spell gave the Blue Jays a chance to get the game into their side. Everyone was tense in the stadium including the Blue Jays’
manager John Farrell, but suddenly the crowd shouted when Edwin Encarnacion drove in a line drive single to centre-field, allowing Yunel Escobar to score the winning run.
"He feels very good at the plate and is obviously seeing the ball well," Blue Jays’ manager John Farrell said of Encarnacion, who is on a season-high 13-game hitting streak. "He's not expanding the strike zone, he's getting good pitches to hit, and he has
done an excellent job for us."
This win tied the ten diversion series at three-all and now both teams will meet on September 19 for their final four-game series of the 2011 regular season.
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