After losing 10 of their previous 11 games away from home Ryan Grant Jersey , the Toronto Blue Jays got timely plays to break out of their rut.
Steve Pearce hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning and the Blue Jays ended a five-game road losing streak with a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday night.
”We needed it. We did it in dramatic fashion, and sometimes that’s what you need to start a little streak,” said Pearce, who is 4 for 6 in two games since returning from the disabled list because of a strained oblique.
Pearce’s fourth homer was a line drive down the left-field line off Justin Anderson (1-2), who gave up a two-out single to Aledmys Diaz and walked Devon Travis to bring Pearce to the plate. Pearce was waiting for a slider, and Anderson left it hanging over the middle of the plate.
”It was in the back of my mind, but I was just trying not to strike out,” Pearce said. ”In that situation, you’ve got two guys on, you’ve got to put it in play and let the chips fall where they may.”
Seunghwan Oh (3-2) got the win despite giving up a solo home run to Luis Valbuena that tied it at 1 in the eighth. Ryan Tepera earned his sixth save, striking out Jose Fernandez to end the game.
Marcus Stroman threw five scoreless innings for the Blue Jays, who had lost 10 of their last 11 on the road. Stroman, who had not started since May 8 because of shoulder fatigue, allowed six hits and one walk.
Stroman said it was his best performance of the season, able to effortlessly switch between pitches that he described as ”easy” and ”natural” coming off his hand. After going through a limited spring training because of inflammation in his shoulder, Stroman treated his stint on the disabled list as a second chance to get his body ready for the season.
”I thought he looked like the old guy,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said.
Teoscar Hernandez gave the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead on his solo home run in the third. The shot to left-center was the 13th this season for Hernandez, who went 2 for 4.
Los Angeles had its three-game winning streak snapped. The Angels used five rookie starters, including right-hander Jamie Barria, who gave up one run and four hits, and walked four in five innings.
TERRIFIC TAG
The Angels had a chance to tie it in the bottom of the third after loading the bases with one out, but Russell Martin tagged out David Fletcher at home plate to end the inning. Valbuena popped out to short center, and Kevin Pillar’s throw home arrived ahead of the rookie second baseman.
”I knew he was out,” said Stroman, who was backing up Martin on the play. ”I had the best view. The throw couldn’t have been any more perfect. Right on the money. Literally Marshall Faulk Jersey , Russell could have closed his eyes and probably caught the ball, put that tag.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Blue Jays: RHP Aaron Sanchez (right finger contusion) and LHP Jaime Garcia (shoulder) were placed on the disabled list Saturday. LHP Tim Mayza was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo.
Angels: DH/RHP Shohei Ohtani (elbow) will be re-evaluated Thursday and will not travel with the team during its upcoming 10-game road trip. … C Rene Rivera (right knee) was transferred to the 60-day disabled list.
UP NEXT
Blue Jays: RHP Sam Gaviglio (2-2, 3.75 ERA) is seeking his first win since May 25. He has allowed seven runs in 7 1/3 innings in his last two starts.
Angels: RHP Felix Pena (0-0, 5.40) will make his second career start. Pena faced the Blue Jays as a reliever with the Cubs last season, striking out all three batters he faced.
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After a slow start, Giancarlo Stanton has been on a roll for the Yankees.
But he also said there’s another gear he can kick into, too.
Stanton hit a three-run homer, CC Sabathia pitched six effective innings, and the Yankees beat the Atlanta Braves 6-2 on Wednesday.
Rookie second baseman Gleyber Torres left the game in the top of the fifth inning because of tightness in his right hip and afterward was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a right hip strain.
”We’re hoping it’s a short stint. But we think we’ve got to deal with it this time because there is a small strain there,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said outside the home clubhouse after the game.
”Hopefully it won’t be something that it’s too long. Probably take us up to the All-Star break.”
After struggling in his first two months of his debut season in the Bronx, including three games at the end of March, Stanton managed just 11 homers and hit .245.
He settled in and improved in June with eight homers and a .298 average.
”Yeah I can always get better. So yeah, I got to put it together but there’s some balls that I’ve hit hard that could have been in the air, been better,” said Stanton, who’s 6 for 18 (.333) with two home runs and five RBIs through the first four games of July.
”But that’s talking millimeters of (a) difference here. But in terms of in the box, I feel very close.”
Aaron Judge added his 24th homer of the season in the seventh inning. He’s now homered in three of his past four games.
Catcher Kyle Higashioka also homered for the Yankees, becoming the ninth player since 1920 whose first three hits were home runs. Colorado’s Trevor Story homered for his first four big league hits on April 4-6, 2016.
The 28-year-old, who’s spent most of his first 10 professional seasons in the minors, except for a nine-game hitless stint last season, was surprised at what he’s been able to accomplish since his promotion June 25.
”I wouldn’t have thought that my first three hits in the major leagues would be homers, but the most important thing here is winning,” Higashioka said.
Sabathia (6-3) followed his impressive showing last Friday against Boston, the team with the best record in baseball Eric Ebron Jersey , working out of a couple of jams for the Yankees, who have won six of their past eight after getting swept in three games at Tampa.
National League East-leading Atlanta loaded the bases with two outs in the first, but the 37-year-old struck out 20-year-old phenom Ronald Acuna Jr. on an 88 mph cutter.
”That’s a good lineup. They have a very good team, some good hitters,” Sabathia said. ”Even when I felt I was in control I still had to make pitches. They made me work today.”
The Braves have lost their past two games.
New York took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on Greg Bird’s RBI single off Atlanta starter Julio Teheran (6-6), who lasted just five innings, allowing five hits and five runs. He walked four and struck out 10.
The Yankees got to Teheran again in the third.
With a runner on first and two outs, Aaron Hicks walked. Stanton then fell behind 0-2 before hitting a line drive to the right field bleachers for his 21st homer of the season to make it 4-0.
After retiring the first two batters in the fourth, Teheran fell behind 2-0 against Higashioka before the rookie connected to the left field stands, extending the lead to 5-0.
”You can’t make mistakes to this team,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. ”The way that ball flies around in right center and over, it’s just dangerous. That’s why they are who they are. In spurts, he threw the ball really well.”
The Braves cut the deficit to 5-1 on an RBI grounder from Danny Santana with one out in the fifth. Johan Camargo hit his ninth home run of the season with two outs in the sixth that made it 5-2. But Sabathia limited the damage by retiring Dansby Swanson on a grounder to second with a runner aboard.
Atlanta failed to take advantage in the seventh inning against reliever Chad Green when its first two batters reached on a pair of singles. Green then got three fly outs to end the threat.
PUT ME IN COACH
With New York set to play 11 games in 10 days, beginning Friday at Toronto, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he wanted to be ”greedy” with Thursday being their only day off, and held Austin Romine out of the starting lineup for the fourth consecutive day. Higashioka started for the fourth straight time behind the plate.
The Yankees have been short-handed at catcher since Romine left the game on June 29 against Boston in the seventh inning because of a tight left hamstring. Gary Sanchez has been on the 10-day disabled list since June 25 because of a strained right groin.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Braves: 1B Freddie Freeman, who was hit by a pitch in the third inning, left the game after the fourth because of a contusion in his right upper arm. He expects to be back in the lineup Thursday in Milwaukee.
”I tried to go down in the cage and swing and pretty much topped the ball off the tee,” Freeman said. ”I couldn’t really extend the arm going through the zone. I had no strength. It just kind of swelled up and it looks like a baseball on my tricep right now.”
WELCOME BACK
LHP Luiz Gohara, the No. 3 prospect in the Atlanta organization, arrived about 90 minutes before the first pitch after he was called up from Triple-A Gwinnett for the second time this season. RHP Evan Phillips, who threw 2 1/3 innings Tuesday night, was sent down to Trip