TORONTO — When Jose Molina is the only man left on your bench, you know you need help, and fast.
But before they sorted out that conundrum, the Toronto Blue Jays rode to victory on the bat of the second-last man off the bench, David Cooper.
The rookie, who entered Tuesday’s game as a pinch-runner, hit his first major-league homer in the eighth inning to give the Jays a brief 6-5 lead. In the 10th, his sacrifice fly drove in Rajai Davis to cap a 7-6 win over the Boston Red Sox.
Davis singled and stole second and third to set up Cooper’s long fly ball to centre field.
Meanwhile, the Jays faced a desperate manpower shortage when shortstop Yunel Escobar had to leave the game after being hit in the leg by a pitch.
With an eight-man bullpen and first baseman Adam Lind in limbo with a back injury, the Jays started the night with only Cooper and Molina, the backup catcher, on the bench.
When Boston starter Jon Lester hit Escobar in the left leg in the sixth inning, Cooper came in to run for him. Cooper stayed in the game at first base, with Edwin Encarnacion moving from first to third and John McDonald from third to shortstop.
Cooper, a rookie recently called up from triple-A Las Vegas, homered in the eighth inning to give Toronto a 6-5 lead.
But for the third time in the game, the Jays blew a lead, this time thanks to Adrian Gonzalez, who hit his second homer of the night in the top of the ninth off Frank Francisco.
Escobar was listed as day-to-day with a contusion on his lower leg. His injury underscored the pressure on the Jays to decide whether to place Lind on the disabled list.
Lind’s lower-back spasms had subsided somewhat on Tuesday. No one could tell how quickly he will return to action, although general manager Alex Anthopoulos said before the game that he did not expect to make a decision on Lind’s status on Tuesday.
Lind said he thought he might be able to play “after Thursday,” an off-day. He said he had made “very substantial” progress from Monday to Tuesday.
He also acknowledged that moving from designated hitter to full-time first baseman unquestionably contributed to the injury. And he took the blame for failing to strengthen his core sufficiently to prepare for the transition.
“If I’d done a few more abs, then maybe this wouldn’t have happened,” he said.
Of Lind’s 150 games last year, 120 were at DH.
The Jays had lost three of four at Boston in April, but Cooper’s blast set them up to win the opener of this two-game series in regulation.
Cooper was appearing in his ninth game and batting .111 before he connected off Daniel Bard to lead off the ninth.
But Francisco could not hold the lead. Gonzalez, who earlier hit a two-run shot off starter Kyle Drabek, led off the ninth with his sixth homer.
The Jays capitalized on Lester’s wildness to score twice in the first inning. Lester walked three batters in that inning and first baseman Adrian Gonzalez dropped a pop-up, allowing a run to score as he threw to second for a forceout.
Drabek took a 3-1 lead into the fourth. David Ortiz led off that frame with a homer, and an inning later, Gonzalez followed a leadoff walk to Dustin Pedroia with a two-run blast that gave the Red Sox a 4-3 edge.
Opening the fifth, Bautista capped an eight-pitch at-bat against Lester with his 11th home run, a streak into the left-field bullpen.
An inning later, Arencibia led off with his fifth homer.
Boston tied it against Marc Rzepczynski in the eighth on Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s RBI single.
Drabek threw 109 pitches over his five-inning session. He allowed four runs on eight hits, walked three and struck out five.
National Post
But before they sorted out that conundrum, the Toronto Blue Jays rode to victory on the bat of the second-last man off the bench, David Cooper.
The rookie, who entered Tuesday’s game as a pinch-runner, hit his first major-league homer in the eighth inning to give the Jays a brief 6-5 lead. In the 10th, his sacrifice fly drove in Rajai Davis to cap a 7-6 win over the Boston Red Sox.
Davis singled and stole second and third to set up Cooper’s long fly ball to centre field.
Meanwhile, the Jays faced a desperate manpower shortage when shortstop Yunel Escobar had to leave the game after being hit in the leg by a pitch.
With an eight-man bullpen and first baseman Adam Lind in limbo with a back injury, the Jays started the night with only Cooper and Molina, the backup catcher, on the bench.
When Boston starter Jon Lester hit Escobar in the left leg in the sixth inning, Cooper came in to run for him. Cooper stayed in the game at first base, with Edwin Encarnacion moving from first to third and John McDonald from third to shortstop.
Cooper, a rookie recently called up from triple-A Las Vegas, homered in the eighth inning to give Toronto a 6-5 lead.
But for the third time in the game, the Jays blew a lead, this time thanks to Adrian Gonzalez, who hit his second homer of the night in the top of the ninth off Frank Francisco.
Escobar was listed as day-to-day with a contusion on his lower leg. His injury underscored the pressure on the Jays to decide whether to place Lind on the disabled list.
Lind’s lower-back spasms had subsided somewhat on Tuesday. No one could tell how quickly he will return to action, although general manager Alex Anthopoulos said before the game that he did not expect to make a decision on Lind’s status on Tuesday.
Lind said he thought he might be able to play “after Thursday,” an off-day. He said he had made “very substantial” progress from Monday to Tuesday.
He also acknowledged that moving from designated hitter to full-time first baseman unquestionably contributed to the injury. And he took the blame for failing to strengthen his core sufficiently to prepare for the transition.
“If I’d done a few more abs, then maybe this wouldn’t have happened,” he said.
Of Lind’s 150 games last year, 120 were at DH.
The Jays had lost three of four at Boston in April, but Cooper’s blast set them up to win the opener of this two-game series in regulation.
Cooper was appearing in his ninth game and batting .111 before he connected off Daniel Bard to lead off the ninth.
But Francisco could not hold the lead. Gonzalez, who earlier hit a two-run shot off starter Kyle Drabek, led off the ninth with his sixth homer.
The Jays capitalized on Lester’s wildness to score twice in the first inning. Lester walked three batters in that inning and first baseman Adrian Gonzalez dropped a pop-up, allowing a run to score as he threw to second for a forceout.
Drabek took a 3-1 lead into the fourth. David Ortiz led off that frame with a homer, and an inning later, Gonzalez followed a leadoff walk to Dustin Pedroia with a two-run blast that gave the Red Sox a 4-3 edge.
Opening the fifth, Bautista capped an eight-pitch at-bat against Lester with his 11th home run, a streak into the left-field bullpen.
An inning later, Arencibia led off with his fifth homer.
Boston tied it against Marc Rzepczynski in the eighth on Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s RBI single.
Drabek threw 109 pitches over his five-inning session. He allowed four runs on eight hits, walked three and struck out five.
National Post
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