The Toronto Blue Jays moved one step closer to a postseason berth with an extra-inning victory over the last-place Oakland Athletics in both leagues.
Toronto won 6-5 in extra innings on Friday (May 5) at Levi’s Center Coliseum in Oakland, Calif. The win was their second straight and improved their record to 77-62 on the season. They are in the fourth wild-card spot and are 0.5 games out of the third wild-card spot (Texas Rangers/76-61).
Toronto’s starting lineup for the game was George Springer (right field), Cavan Biggio (third base), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (designated hitter), Spencer Hawits (first base), Whit Merrifield (second base), Alejandro Kirk (catcher), Dalton Bashaw (left field), Ernie Clement (shortstop), Kevin Kiermaier (center field), and starting pitcher Jose Berrios.
Oakland countered with Tony Kemp (left field), Zack Gelbrecht (second base), Ryan Noda (first base), Brent Rooker (designated hitter), Seth Brown (right field), Jordan Diaz (third base), Shay Langelius (catcher), Lawrence Butler (center field), Nick Allen (shortstop), and starting pitcher Luis Medina.토스카지노
The game was tightly contested in the early innings. The scoreboard showed a streak of zeros, and it was Toronto that first cracked the ice. In the top of the fifth, Kirk and Bashaw drew back-to-back walks and Clement singled up the middle to load the bases. Kiermeyer followed with an infield single to shortstop, allowing Kirk to score from third for a 1-0 lead.
With the bases loaded and only one out, the Toronto offense rallied. With two outs, Springer doubled to center field to make it 2-0, and Biggio followed with an RBI single off reliever Sean Newcomb to make it 3-0.
That set the tone for Toronto, but back-to-back home runs in the middle of the inning faltered, with Butler giving up a solo shot two batters later to make it 3-1 in the bottom of the fifth. Two batters later, Noda hit a solo home run to make it 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth. Similarly, in the bottom of the seventh, with the bases loaded, he gave up another cannon to Diaz to tie the game at 3-3.
Unable to settle the score in regulation, the teams headed to extra innings. In the top of the 10th, Toronto took a 4-3 lead on Espinal’s RBI double with two outs. Biggio followed with an RBI single with the bases loaded to make it 5-3. With the momentum in their favor, Horwitz doubled to put runners on first and second with one out to make it 6-3.
Butler’s two-run homer with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th cut the deficit to 6-5, but the Jays didn’t allow any more runs and preserved the win.
Toronto got a quality start from Berrios, who allowed two runs on four hits (two homers) with one walk and seven strikeouts in six innings. At the plate, Biggio had a multi-hit game and two RBIs and Guerrero Jr. had two hits.