#18: Donaldson Walks off Rays in Home
Finale, 2015
Tampa Bay Rays (4) at Toronto Blue
Jays (5)
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Rogers Centre
At
the All-Star Break of the 2015 season, the Toronto Blue Jays looked like they
were well on their way to another mediocre season. They had a record of 45-46
and were 4 ½ games behind the division-leading New York Yankees. Not only that,
but it had taken an 11-game winning streak at the beginning of June to ensure
they weren’t even farther behind.
Two
weeks later, they were eight games out but General Manager Alex Anthopoulus was
about to change the club in ways Jays fans had only imagined before. He traded
for Colorado Rockies’ all-star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, Detroit Tigers’
pitcher David Price and Philadelphia Phillies’ outfielder Ben Revere in less
than a week. The arrival of those high-calibre players boosted the confidence
of those already on the team, and they set about on one of the greatest second
halves in team history.
On
September 25, the Jays had clinched at least a wild card spot when they beat
Tampa by a score of 5-3. They then out-slugged the Rays the following day,
10-8. The final home game of the regular season would see a fitting end to the
comeback of 2015. Toronto entered the game with a four game lead over New York
with eight to play.
But
the Rays jumped onto the scoreboard first in the top of the first when Jays’
pitcher Mark Buehrle surrendered a single to Logan Forsythe that drove in
Brandon Guyer with the game’s first run. The Jays, however, matched that in the
bottom half of the inning. With two runners on, first baseman Justin Smoak hit
a ground rule double to left field that scored Josh Donaldson.
The
Rays then slowly took control of the game as their pitching held the best
offense in baseball in check, while the Tampa batters chipped in a few more
runs off of Buehrle. A two-run home run in the third by Mikie Matook and a
sacrifice fly in the fourth by Richie Shaffer helped establish a 4-1 Tampa Bay
lead.
This
game, however, would epitomize the Jays season. They looked like they were out
of it early but the bats woke up when they needed to, proving to themselves and
their fans that they were never out of a ball game.
It
began in the bottom of the sixth when Smoak blasted a Brandon Gomes pitch over
the right field wall with designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion on base and the
Tampa Bay lead had been cut to 4-3. Tampa was shut down after getting their
lead by Buehrle, and relievers Liam Hendriks, Aaron Sanchez and Brett Cecil.
After Tampa scored their fourth run in the fourth inning, that quartet of
pitchers would combine to allow only one walk and one single over the next five
innings.
The
Jays looked to tie the score in the bottom of the eighth. With one out, Smoak
singled to left for his third hit of the game. One out later, Dalton Pompey—who
was pinch-running for Smoak—stole second base, and later scored on
centre-fielder Kevin Pillar’s RBI double.
That
set the stage for the bottom of the ninth. The Rays had relief pitcher Steve
Geltz on the mound and he retired the first two Toronto batters. That brought
Josh Donaldson up to the plate. The Jays’ third baseman was playing the best
baseball of his career and would put together good enough numbers to help him
capture the American League MVP Award when the season was over.
Donaldson
sent the Jays’ fans home happy when he took an 0-1 pitch and ripped it over the
left-field fence for the game-winning walk-off home run. Final score: Jays-5,
Rays-4. It was the seventh time the Jays had recorded a walk-off victory on the
season, and it put an exclamation mark on the comeback. Although the division
had still not been clinched, this win erased all doubt—if there was any—that it
would happen.
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