Eight Years Ago
The Jays beat the Twins 9-6. Josh Donaldson hit three home runs for the first (and only) time in his career. The field was showered with hats (well, caps, but a “cap trick” doesn’t sound right).
The win pushed our record to 74-56, 2 games up on the Red Sox for first place. We would finish second but beat the Orioles in the Wild Card game (you may remember Edwin Encarnacion’s home run).
It was the Twins’ tenth loss in a row. They were 49-81, sitting at the bottom of the AL Central.
From the GameThread:
Josh Donaldson fouled a ball off his knee in the first inning. It looked like it hurt a lot, and I was all for taking him out of the game.
Then, in the third inning, he made two bad throws, one for an error, and I really thought he should be out of the game.
Then he goes and hits 3 home runs. And all to dead center. Each was crushed.
His first home run broke a 1-1 tie in the third.
The Twins scored 4 in the fifth inning,, going up 5-2.
We got two in the sixth (Devon Travis had a two-run single).
Donaldson’s second homer was part of a four-run fifth, which put us ahead to stay.
His third home run was a solo shot in the eighth.
Josh drove in four runs. Troy Tulowitzki hit a home run of his own. B.J. Upton drove in two runs. And Jose Bautista went 3 for 5 in the leadoff spot.
R.A. Dickey started and wasn’t great: 6 innings, 5 runs, 3 earned. Scott Feldman (I have no memory of him pitching for the Jays, but he pitched in 14 games that year) picked up the win.
32 Years Ago
The Jays lost 22-2 to the Brewers. The Brewers had 31 hits.
- Jimmy Key started the game but left after 1.2, giving up three earned.
- Mike Timlin gave up four earned in 1.1.
- Doug Linton only got one out, giving up six earned.
- Bob MacDonald was the bulk guy, going 3.2, allowing 3 earned.
- Mark Eichhorn allowed three more in his inning.
- David Wells gave up the last three runs in the ninth.
In the “All’s Well That Ends Well” department, the Jays would go on to win the World Series.