After a horrible August, Gregg Zaun remembered how to hit the ball at just the right moment.
Zaun's two-out grand slam in the 13th inning gave the Jays a 7-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in front of 34,694 fans at the Rogers Centre on Saturday.
The dramatic scene was set for Zaun after the Rays had rallied to tie the game with three runs in the ninth and had gone ahead 4-3 in the top of the 13th.
It was the seventh straight victory for Toronto, which hasn't had a winning streak that long since September 2002. The Jays (75-66) now trail the American League East-leading Rays (85-55) by 10.5 games.
This triumph, which took four hours 15 minutes to play out, came ever so close to ending in failure, as Zaun was just able to lift a pitch from Troy Percival (1-2) down the line and over the wall in right field.
"I think it was a fastball, something hard, it might have been cutting in on me a little bit, but, like I said, it just eked over and if I hit it anywhere else it's a game-ending fly ball," said Zaun, noting he's already had some big battles with Percival this season. "But I got it far enough down the line, it got over and they all count. It was a big moment. That was a lot of fun."
And having fun at the plate isn't exactly something Zaun was accustomed to prior to this game. While he had a three-hit afternoon versus Tampa, the Jays catcher was on a miserable stretch coming into the contest.
"I found out the other day I went 0-for-August, which is kind of interesting," Zaun said.
Indeed, after going 0-for-17 last month, Zaun was more than ready for the calendar to flip.
But his heroics wouldn't have been necessary had B.J. Ryan not been roughed up while gunning for the save, taking away what would have been a big win for starter Shaun Marcum.
Elsewhere in the AL it was: Oakland 5, Baltimore 1; Detroit 6, Minnesota 4; Chicago 7, Los Angeles 6; Kansas City 3, Cleveland 1; Texas 15, Boston 8; and New York 7, Seattle 4.
At Toronto, the Blue Jays' troubles began when Ryan hit lead-off hitter Carlos Pena in the ninth, then allowed a pinch-hit two-run homer to Baldelli to make it a 3-2 game.
Willy Aybar then drew a walk and Perez, pinch-running for Aybar, stole second. A hard shot from Dioner Navarro went through Jays second baseman Joe Inglett for an error, allowing Perez to score and tie the game.
Toronto threatened to come right back and clinch it in the bottom half of the ninth, but a base-running error by Rolen ended the rally. After hitting a two-out double, Rolen took a wide turn around third base on Zaun's infield single and got nailed in a rundown between third and home.
Tampa took a one-run lead in the top of the 13th when Navarro slapped a two-out single to cash Perez. The hit came off winning pitcher Brian Tallet (1-1), who was the ninth Jays hurler of the afternoon.
Things couldn't have gone smoother for the Jays prior to Ryan's meltdown, as the Rays couldn't get anything going offensively, while Lyle Overbay hit two solo homers to supply most of Toronto's offence.
When someone joked after the game that Zaun had stolen Overbay's thunder, the big first baseman just grinned.
"Man, I'll take that," Overbay said. "We snuck one out, it was a good win for us."
Marcum, making his first start since being recalled from triple-A, pitched very well in his return and appeared destined to pick up the win.
The right-hander, who had been sent down to work on control issues, struck out seven batters and allowed four hits over seven innings. He departed after tossing 101 pitches in front of 34,649 spectators.
"I felt good," Marcum said of his outing. "The plan when I went down was to work on my locating my fastball and, pretty much everything. I felt like I did a pretty good job of throwing my fastball for strikes today and, I mean I walked some people (three), but it ended up not hurting me, we got some ground-ball double-plays when we needed to so all in all I think it was something to try and build on."
Overbay's homers, his 13th and 14th of the year, came in the second and fourth innings off Tampa starter Jeff Shields, who pitched eight innings in a no-decision.
The Jays immediately staked Marcum to a 1-0 lead in the first after he'd induced a double play to eliminate a one-out, first-and-second jam in the top half of the inning. Inglett got the Jays started with a lead-off single before Alex Rios continued his torrid hitting pace by smacking a long double to cash Inglett from first.
Rios, who had two homers in the series-opener on Friday, has hit safely in seven straight games and has six RBIs in his last three contests.
Toronto's lead grew when Overbay's swing produced two very different home runs. His first homer was a hard line shot over the right centre-field wall, while his second was an opposite field fly that just cleared the wall in left.
Tigers 6, Twins 4
At Minneapolis, Curtis Granderson and Magglio Ordonez each hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning and Detroit battered Minnesota's struggling bullpen to rally for a win.
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Royals 3, Indians 1
At Kansas City, Mo., Gil Meche gave up three hits in seven innings to win for the first time in more than a month, and the Royals beat Cleveland.
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Athletics 5, Orioles 1
At Baltimore, Jack Cust hit two solo home runs, Greg Smith pitched seven shutout innings and Oakland handed the Orioles their eighth straight loss.
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Rangers 15, Red Sox 8
At Arlington, Texas, Tim Wakefield, pitching his 500th game for Boston, allowed seven runs in a span of nine batters in the second inning, and the Rangers ended the Red Sox's four-game winning streak.
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White Sox 7, Angels 6 (15 innings)
At Chicago, Jim Thome homered in the 15th inning to pass Mickey Mantle on the career list and give the White Sox a victory over Los Angeles that extended its AL Central lead.
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Yankees 7, Mariners 4
At Seattle, Bobby Abreu homered and drove in three runs, Jason Giambi also connected and New York rallied for five runs in the seventh inning to beat the Mariners.
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National League:
Something about September gets Alfonso Soriano going.
Soriano homered three times at the top of Chicago's retooled batting order, and the first-place Cubs emerged from their longest losing streak of the season by keeping their composure and beating the Cincinnati Reds 14-9 on Saturday night to end a six-game slide.
Soriano was the Cubs' Mr. September last season, leading their final surge toward the NL Central title by hitting a club-record 14 homers in the month. He's been in a slump - along with much of the lineup - this time around.
No longer.
He hit two solo homers off rookie Johnny Cueto (8-13), then connected for a three-run shot off Jared Burton, sending a two-strike pitch deep into the seats in left field. Soriano resisted tens of thousands of Cubs fans who wanted him to take a curtain call - bad form on the road - but briefly tipped his cap when he went back to left field.
"I remember last September I hit 14 home runs, but that's in the past," said Soriano, who has 27 for the season. "It's a new September."
It's starting to look a lot like the last one.
"It's amazing," manager Lou Piniella said. "When he hits, our team seems to really respond and do well. I hope he gets another big September because we need it."
The third three-homer game of Soriano's career got the Cubs' offence rolling. Mark DeRosa added a three-run drive and Jason Marquis (10-8) had a solo shot as Chicago piled up a season-high five homers. Derrek Lee had four hits on his 33rd birthday.
In one game, the Cubs scored as many runs as they did in the six losses combined.
"It was too much Soriano tonight," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "A couple of (pitches) were down; that's where he likes them. A couple were out over the plate. When he gets hot, he hits everything."
Elsewhere in the NL it was: Washington 8, Atlanta 5; Milwaukee 1, San Diego 0; St. Louis 5, Florida 3; Houston 2, Colorado 0; San Francisco 7, Pittsburgh 6; and Los Angeles 7, Arizona 2.
At Cincinnati, the Cubs pulled ahead 9-1, substituted for many of their starters, then held on. Cincinnati's Jolbert Cabrera hit his first career grand slam in the ninth off Carlos Marmol.
Sensing a need for change, Piniella shook up the lineup, benching slumping all-star right-fielder Kosuke Fukudome and centre-fielder Jim Edmonds. He made the right choice by leaving Soriano in the No. 1 spot even though he's been struggling as well.
"That's part of the game," Soriano said. "I come to the park every day with the same energy. I don't lose any confidence."
Piniella also provided a calming presence at a potential meltdown moment. Marquis angrily yelled at plate umpire Brian Runge after Chris Dickerson walked with the bases loaded in the fourth inning, cutting the Cubs' lead to 2-1. The right-hander thought Runge had missed the last two pitches.
"I was a little emotional," Marquis said. "That was a big spot in the game. I meant no disrespect to the umpire. I got caught up in the moment."
Out of the dugout came Piniella, who walked very slowly to the mound, giving his pitcher time to regain his composure. After a soothing chat with Marquis, Piniella also had a few even-tempered words for Runge, making sure the situation didn't escalate.
"I told Marquis, 'Look, don't get the umpire upset,"' Piniella said. "That was really the tone of the conversation."
A refocused Marquis escaped further damage and gave up two runs in 7 1-3 innings, a much-needed boost for a rotation left threadbare by injuries to Carlos Zambrano and Rich Harden.
The crowd of 41,204 represented the Reds' fifth sellout of the season. Most of the fans were wearing blue and rooting for the Cubs, who got their 86th win on Saturday, one more than last season. The Cubs have been in first place since May 11, and lead Milwaukee by four games.
Dodgers 7, Diamondbacks 2
At Los Angeles, the Diamondbacks gave Manny Ramirez three chances to hurt them. He came through twice, and that was enough for the streaking Dodgers.
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Brewers 1, Padres 0
At Milwaukee, Ben Sheets pitched a five-hitter for his career-high 13th win and the Brewers beat San Diego.
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Cardinals 5, Marlins 3
At St. Louis, Albert Pujols hit a two-run home run and Todd Wellemeyer pitched a season-high eight innings to help the Cardinals beat Florida.
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Astros 2, Rockies 0
At Denver, Roy Oswalt threw a one-hitter and Hunter Pence hit a two-run home run to help Houston beat Colorado.
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Nationals 8, Braves 5 (10 innings)
At Atlanta, Ryan Langerhans hit a 10th-inning homer, the Nationals' fifth of the game, and Washington recovered from blowing a two-run lead in the ninth.
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Giants 7, Pirates 6
At San Francisco, Rich Aurilia hit one of three Giants home runs and San Francisco finally beat Pittsburgh at home.