Blue Jays waste Happ’s great start, fall to Twins late
The Toronto Blue Jays could not give J.A. Happ the offensive backing he deserved on Saturday afternoon in Minnesota, falling 5-3 to the Twins.
Happ bounced back from his short outing last week against the Tampa Bay Rays, but allowed a two-RBI double to tie the game in the eighth. Happ’s final line was left at three earned runs on three hits over seven and a third innings.
Gavin Floyd entered in relief of Happ, and after hitting his first batter, allowed a three-run home run to Eduardo Nunez.
Jose Bautista opened the scoring for Toronto with his ninth home run of the season, a two-run shot to left field that scored Darwin Barney in the third inning. Michael Saunders went deep again, his eighth home run of the season
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Josh Donaldson was ejected in his very first at bat of the game following an argument with home plate umpire Toby Basner. Donaldson appeared to indicate that he was yelling towards the Twins dugout as he walked away from the plate, not Basner.
Kevin Pillar provided the defensive highlight yet again. With Nunez tagging up from second on a deep fly ball to centre field, Pillar unloaded a strong and accurate throw to Darwin Barney at third to beat the runner.
Ryan Goins entered following the ejection to play second base while Barney shifted to third in Donaldson’s place.
Barney continued his strong start to the season as he earned the start against the left-hander, going 1-for-2 with a double and a walk.
Twins starter Pat Dean kept the Blue Jays bats quiet long enough for his offence to wake up, allowing just three hits over six innings.
Marcus Stroman is scheduled to take on Phil Hughes in the series finale on Sunday afternoon.