Wells, Bautista help snap Jays’ slump
After going on an 0 for 21 hitting slump, Vernon Wells picked a good time to get his bat going.
Wells hit a double in the seventh innings and knocked in the go-ahead run as the Toronto Blue Jays snapped an ugly losing streak to defeat the Minnesota Twins 6-5 on Wednesday night. The narrow one-run victory gives them a bit of revenge over the Twins, who pulled the same trick by beating them 7-6 on Tuesday.
Marc Rzepczynski started his first game of the year for the Blue Jays after having had a strong début in 2009 with 12 games played and a 3.67 ERA. His performance Wednesday wasn’t quite as strong, but the 24-year-old managed to last one out shy of six innings, and let in four runs. If it wasn’t an all-star worthy performance, fans can take heart in the fact he struck out seven batters while walking just one, and more importantly, the Jays’ bull pen was in fine form. They allowed just one run over the last ten outs, with Scott Downs picking up the win and Kevin Gregg picking up his 19th save on the year.
Kevin Slowey let in five runs starting for the Twins and lasted just over six innings. It was Mark Guerrier in relief who picked up the loss after conceding the go-ahead run off of Wells’ double.
The game was a tight contest from the beginning, as an early solo shot by Alex Gonzalez gave the Jays an early lead that last until the fourth, when Orlando Hudson hit a two-run home run for the Twins. The Jays tied in the bottom of the innings, but the Twins got another home run in the fifth, but in the bottom of the innings Jose Bautista scored a rare feat: a two-run inside the park home run to take a one-run lead. The Twins once again recaptured their lead in the seventh, but the Jays tied once again before Wells drove in Bautista to make the game 6-5, where it would stay.
Wells relieved he got a hit
For a batter who has struggled and was hitless in July, Wells’ game-winning double was a welcome return to form for the slugger.
“I’ve been able to forget about anything that’s happened, good or bad,” Wells said. “You move on from every at bat, you try to just have a good at-bat each and every time you get up, no matter what the outcome was your last time. That’s the only thing I’ve tried to concentrate on this year.”
Twins’ slugger Justin Morneau was accidentally kneed in the head by Jays second base-man John McDonald and had to leave the game, with Twins manager Ron Gardenhire saying he was dizzy after the incident and would have to examined Thursday to see if he’d suffered any kind of concussion or other injury.
As for Jays’ manager Cito Gaston, Rzepczynski’s debut was another welcome sight. The sophomore pitcher had missed the season after breaking his finger in a pre-season game, and had been playing Triple-A ball in Las Vegas to get him up to form.
“It's good to have him back,” said Gaston
Jays finally snap skid
It’s been a long July and June for Jays fans, with Wednesday’s victory being just the second win in their past ten games. They are now 42-43 on the season, and had lost three games in a row, and had gone 9-17 in a brutal June. They’ll have a chance to claw back to .500 before the All-Star break as they take on the Twins Thursday again.
The loss, the Twins’ third in four games, meanwhile drops them to 45-39, 1.5 games behind AL Central leaders the Detroit Tigers.
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