|
 But in the end, it was no contest.
The Blue Jays jumped out to an early lead and cruised behind
starting pitcher David Price to a 9-2 win in the first game of a
three-game series at Angel Stadium.
Price gave up two runs on six hits in eight innings, improving to
12-4 this season, including 3-0 in four starts since joining the
Blue Jays in a July 30 trade from Detroit. He struck out nine,
including center fielder Mike Trout twice, and walked only one.
Because of two scheduled off-days in the past week, Price was
throwing on six days rest.
"I know my fastball is good, but whenever you have that extra rest,
that's when guys tend to fall in love with their fastball," said
Price, who hit 97-mph on the radar gun Friday. "I've definitely done
that before just because I felt that strong with it.
"But tonight I went out there and just threw my game, mixed in all
my pitches. I executed some really good changeups, some really good
cutters and a couple curveballs as well. That's what I wanted to
focus on, and not just throw fastballs."
The game was over almost from the start, when the Blue Jays scored
three runs in the first inning against Angels starter Hector
Santiago (7-7). Price didn't allow a hit until the fifth, when the
Angels scored their first run on an RBI double by catcher Chris
Iannetta. Right fielder Kole Calhoun homered in the eighth inning
for Los Angeles' other run, but by then, it was far too little, too
late.
Toronto had only 11 hits, but took advantage of Santiago's early
wildness -- he walked four in the first inning -- and some shoddy
play by the Angels defense.
The Angels made three errors, and that doesn't count the
seventh-inning pop fly hit by designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion
that fell untouched in shallow right field among first baseman C.J.
Cron, second baseman Ryan Jackson and the right fielder Calhoun and
was scored a hit.
"We had a couple breakdowns," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.
"You expect a lot of things but if you're not catching popups,
you're going to lose that game eight days a week.
"We lost this game in so many different ways and defense was
certainly one part of it and we have to play better. They're a good
club over there but it wouldn't have mattered who we were playing
tonight. You just can't ... you've got to make plays and
unfortunately we couldn't get it done."
Toronto's offense was led by left fielder Ben Revere (four hits),
third baseman Josh Donaldson (two doubles, three RBIs) and first
baseman Justin Smoak (two-run homer).
"It's just the way we score runs, with this one-through-nine lineup,
it's unbelievable how much firepower we have in there," said Revere,
who came to the Blue Jays in a trade from the Phillies on July 31.
"One through five, all the power, and the bottom of the lineup, we
can hit line drives. We've just got to get on base and let the big
boys hit."
[to top of second column] |
With the win, the Blue Jays moved to within one-half game of the
first-place Yankees in the American League East, and maintained
their hold on the top wild-card spot.
The Angels still hold the No. 2 wild-card spot, but their lead is
just a half-game over both Baltimore and Texas. They also fell 3 1/2
games behind first-place Houston in the AL West.
Santiago couldn't find the strike zone in the first inning. After
striking out Blue Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki to open the game,
Santiago walked Donaldson, right fielder Jose Bautista and
Encarnacion consecutively to load the bases.
It appeared Santiago might escape after getting Smoak on a pop out
to shortstop, but he walked catcher Russell Martin to force in a
run.
Center fielder Justin Pillar followed a sinking liner to left field,
where Shane Victorino made a sliding attempt. Victorino got his
glove on the ball but dropped it. The play was ruled an error as two
runs scored for a 3-0 Blue Jays lead.
Santiago made 48 pitches in the first inning alone, signaling he was
in for a short night.
He made into the fourth inning, but a two-out RBI double by
Donaldson gave Toronto a 4-0 lead and spelled the end for Santiago.
"Tonight it was just command, Hector just lost his release point,"
Scioscia said. "He was all over the place. This was one where he
obviously was out of sync. He's sitting at almost 50 pitches after
the first inning; that's tough to rebound from."
NOTES: Angels 2B Johnny Giavotella left the ballpark before the game
because he was feeling sick. INF Ryan Jackson started in
Giavotella's place. ... Angels 3B David Freese, out since July 22
with a broken right index finger, will begin a rehab assignment
Sunday for Triple-A Salt Lake. ... Blue Jays SS Troy Tulowitzki
began the night hitting .219 (16-for-73) since coming to the club in
a trade from the Rockies July 28. Despite Tulowitzki's struggles
with the club, Toronto had won 16 of 20 since acquiring him.
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