Morning Rewind, 8/26: Blue Jays continue to soar

By JOHN DORN

September baseball is just five days away, and the Toronto Blue Jays are in first place.

What?

Toronto entered Tuesday in a first-place tie with the New York Yankees in the AL East. Entering the ninth inning of the Jays' contest in Texas though, things weren't looking up. Trailing 5-4 with closer Shawn Tolleson on the mound, Toronto would need a sizable surge to power through the red-hot Rangers.

But if there's any offense in the league that could flip a script in a split-second, it's Toronto's. And that's exactly what they did.

A Troy Tulowitzki single drove in the tying run, and Josh Donaldson reached on an error to put Toronto in front. Roberto Osuna closed down the final three outs, and the Jays sit atop the East by a game.

Blue Jays 6, Rangers 5


Around the League

WSH 8, SD 3
It was a rocky beginning for Stephen Strasburg, allowing two runs in the early going. But the Nats settled in, hammered home eight runs between the second and sixth innings, and didn't lose any ground in the NL East.

LAA 8, DET 7
The pressure is on the Angels to stay competitive in the West, and they're doing what they can. An early Albert Pujols three-run home got the scoring going, and LA was able to hold on on the road for the victory.

COL 5, ATL 1
Colorado finally gets back on the winning side for the first time since Aug. 20, powered by two first-inning runs driven in by Ben Paulsen and Nolan Arenado.

LAD 5, CIN 1
Justin Turner and Jimmy Rollins each knocked one out of Great American Ballpark, and the Dodgers bullpen combined for 3.1 scoreless innings to get Los Angeles back on the winning side.

NYM 6, PHI 5
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When you're in last place, you tend to live an angrier life. Just ask Larry Bowa, who took exception to Mets reliever Hansel Robles "quick-pitching" Darin Ruf, who was standing in the batters box but unprepared to swing. Bowa and Jeff Francoeur popped out of the dugout, the benches sort of cleared, but nothing really happened. Except Bowa insinuating that Murphy will soon be hit with a pitch in the ribs.

Oh, and the Phillies lost.

CLE 11, MIL 6
Runs were aplenty in Cleveland Tuesday, but when it was all over, the Indians had more of them. Michael Brantley drove in four on a pair of homers.

MIN 11, TB 7
Only three out of these nine innings went completely scoreless, and neither starter made it past the third inning. But the Twins bullpen was able to recover nicely, while Tampa's just compounded their issues.

MIA 5, PIT 2
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When you're on the kind of roll Pittsburgh is, everything just seems easy. (We can just ignore that they lost this one in Miami, because this throw was so damn cool).

KC 3, BAL 2
You probably haven't heard, but Kendrys Morales has quietly enjoyed one of the more consistently good seasons in baseball at the plate. His monster home run got him up to 86 RBIs on the season, and powered KC past Baltimore.

CWS 5, BOS 4
The wheels came off for Wade Miley in the seventh after a solid start, allowing three in the frame, five altogether, and getting the loss.

STL 9, ARI 1
The Cardinals led this one just four batters into the game after Jason Heyward drove in a pair, and that may as well have been the end of the game. That was all St. Louis needed to beat Arizona, 9-1.

SEA 6, OAK 5
Ignoring the fourth and fifth innings, the A's shut the Mariners out. Problem is, we aren't ignoring those innings, and Seattle combined for all of their six runs in that time.

HOU 15, NYY 1

Surprise, surprise. Carlos Gomez's opponents don't like how much emotion he shows on the baseball field. After a bat flip and a display of frustration after popping out, Joe Girardi screamed at him from the dugout. The benches kind of cleared. It was pretty dumb.

CHC 8, SF 5
The Giants, in the middle of a Wild Card race, really aren't helping themselves at all lately. After getting pounded by the Pirates over the weekend, they're now dropping games to the Cubs -- who are beginning to look just as formidable as their other NL Central counterparts.


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