Blue Jays sign OF Granderson to one-year, $5 million deal

The Toronto Blue Jags have officially signed free agent outfielder Granderson to a one-year, $5 million contract.

Granderson, 36, posted a .212 batting average in 2017 with 24 doubles, 26 home runs and an OPS of .775 in 147 games. The Chicago, Illinois, native appeared in 111 games for the New York Mets before his trade to the LA Dodgers where he appeared in 36 regular season games.

Granderson, who is entering his 15th season in the MLB, is a three time All-Star (2009, 2011, and 2012), Silver Slugger (2011) and was named the 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner. The left-handed hitter holds a career batting average of .252 with 319 home runs an OPS of .812. 

Granderson will get $1.5 million in incentives for plate appearances.

Bird's homer helps Yankees clinch postseason spot

(TSX / STATS) -- TORONTO -- The New York Yankees feel they have a lot more to accomplish this season.

They took the first step Saturday when Greg Bird's three-run homer and Sonny Gray's solid start lifted them a 5-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays to clinch an American League wild-card spot.

"We've got to keep working," Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge said. "We're not done yet. This is just the beginning.

"We've got a lot of goals for this team, a lot of stuff we want to do. Getting a chance to be in the postseason, we've got to keep it rolling and finish strong."

Todd Frazier also homered for the Yankees (86-68).

Relievers Chad Green, David Robertson and Aroldis Chapman each pitched a perfect inning to finish the game.

Teoscar Hernandez homered for the Blue Jays (72-83).

"We've got one of the best bullpens in all of baseball and we've got a stacked lineup and we have fun and go out and compete," said Judge, who has 46 homers. "We compete our butts off every single pitch, we don't take a pitch off."

The Yankees are on a 16-6 run and still have a mathematical chance to finish first in the AL East.

"It's a great accomplishment," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "We learned a lot about our young players, our veteran players. To see the kids kind of grow up in front of you, it's special.

"We're still playing for the division. Obviously, I have to be smart. I can't run guys out there 10 days in a row. That doesn't make sense."

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons is impressed with the Yankees.

"They're young and talented," Gibbons said. "They've got a lot of pop in their lineup. They've got some good pieces to go along with it. Some speed with (Jacoby) Ellsbury and (Brett) Gardner.

"They've got some good starting pitching and arguably one of the best bullpens, if not the best. They can be as tough as anybody."

Gray (10-11) won for the fourth time against six losses since joining the Yankees in a trade with the Oakland Athletics on July 31 by holding the Blue Jays to one run and four hits.

Toronto starter Joe Biagini (3-12) continued to look for his first win since June 21 after allowing three hits, including a home run, four walks and three runs in five innings. He is 0-6 in his past eight starts.

"I've established some consistent inconsistency," Biagini said. "The maddening thing for me is that I kind of see spurts of little parts of my game come out occasionally that I feel are good and that's what I feel I should be doing and tap into a little bit more."

Hernandez hit his fourth homer since being called up for September, and his second in two days, in the third inning.

Bird hit his sixth homer of the season with one out in the fifth on a first-pitch cutter. It also scored Chase Headley and Starlin Castro, who had walked, giving the Yankees a 3-1 lead.

"What a team to be a part of," Bird said. "What a group. We were just trying to get (Gray) runs. We haven't got him many runs the last few starts."

"(Biagini) definitely had his fastball going early and we tried to keep that going as long as we could," Blue Jays catcher Raffy Lopez said. "He lost it a little bit, so we had to try use more of his other pitches.

"He still did a good job. The cutter we were trying to go up and in (to Bird) and it was middle in and he put a pretty good swing on it. The fifth inning maybe he got a little tired. A hot day in late September, a guy who is trying to get extended out as a starter."

Danny Barnes replaced Biagini and pitched a perfect sixth. Aaron Loup pitched around a single in the seventh.

Frazier hit his 27th homer of the season in the eighth against Tim Mayza.

The Yankees scored a run in the ninth off Luis Santos on a double by Gary Sanchez, a walk to Headley, a fielder's choice grounder to first by Ellsbury and an infield single to third by Castro.

"We're a lot better than a lot of people thought we were," Headley said. "This is my second postseason in 11 years so I'm enjoying it.

"Obviously, we have more work to be done, but any time you have a chance to play in the postseason, you can't take it for granted. A lot of guys play a long time and don't have this chance."

NOTES: Yankees OF Brett Gardner was 0-for-4 Saturday to end an 11-game hit streak. ... Toronto INF/OF Steve Pearce (stiff lower back) will not play for the rest of the season. He had not played since Sept. 8 when he left the game after one inning. ... Yankees RF Aaron Judge struck out for the 200th time this year in the first inning, the first player this season to reach that plateau. It is a major league record for a rookie. ... Yankees LHP Jaime Garcia (5-9, 4.19 ERA) will oppose Blue Jays RHP Marcus Stroman (12-8, 3.01) in the series finale on Sunday.

Fister pitches Red Sox to 6-1 win over Blue Jays

(TSX / STATS) -- BOSTON -- Red Sox manager John Farrell admits he did not know exactly what he was getting when Boston picked veteran right-hander Doug Fister off the baseball scrapheap.

"Not in terms of the consistent performance," Farrell said after Fister turned in another strong performance to lead the Red Sox to a rain-soaked 6-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night.

"We knew we were getting a guy with a veteran presence we felt like we needed to add to the starting depth ... but to say that when we got him from the Angels (on waivers) that he would be running a streak of starts consecutively like he is, no -- he's surpassed the initial expectation. He's doing a great job."

Fister, who has gone from an extra starter to forcing his way into the team's postseason thinking, worked seven innings, allowing one run on four hits and striking out a season-high nine. Fister (5-7) is 5-2 in his past seven starts, and Wednesday marked his fourth straight outing of at least seven innings.

In all four games, he has been scored on in the first inning and not scored on again. In fact, hitters are 8-for-20 (.400) with five earned runs allowed in the four first innings, and just 6-for-83 (.072) from the second innings on -- all adding up to a 3-1 record and 1.50 ERA.

"He gets into the rhythm of the game," Farrell said. "Takes him an inning. Takes him an inning to find his release point. It's been uncanny how similar the beginning of games are and how he finishes out.

"To me it's finding that release point and then he stays out of the middle of the plate and then he gets the feel for that curveball, which is, as we've come to find out, that's a key pitch for him."

Said Fister: "The first inning was a bit of a struggle for me (Wednesday). I was having some trouble locating the sinker down and in to the lefties, and that kind of caused me some troubles. I had to make some adjustments."

Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a two-run homer and added another RBI, and Eduardo Nunez had two hits and two of Boston's four stolen bases as the Red Sox made it 12-4 over the last-place Blue Jays this season. Boston is 29 of 32 stealing bases in the 16 games vs. Toronto.

"He's pitched really special," Bradley said of Fister. "It's definitely been a lot of fun. He works really fast, and he attacks the strike zone and is getting outs when he needs to."

A night after the Red Sox drained their bullpen by using 12 pitchers in a 19-inning win, Fister walked in a run in the first but yielded only two hits after the opening inning.

"He really kept us off balance, and I thought he used his breaking ball pretty good and mixed his pitches well under these conditions," said Toronto bench coach DeMarlo Hale, managing his fifth straight game with John Gibbons tending to personal business in Texas. "He's done a very good job. Spotted his fastball, mixed his breaking ball in. Kept us off balance a little bit. So you tip your hat to him, he pitched well."

The win raised the Red Sox's lead over the rained-out New York Yankees to four games atop the American League East.

Bradley's 15th homer of the season capped a four-run fourth inning that chased Joe Biagini (3-10). The Toronto starter allowed five runs on six hits in 3 1/3 innings.

Asked to sum up his outing, which came on the heels of a career-high 10 strikeouts and seven shutout innings, Biagini, who hasn't had a win since June 21, said, "Bad. That's a short answer for you."

Boston relievers Joe Kelly and Matt Barnes worked a perfect inning apiece to finish off the win.

NOTES: Red Sox manager John Farrell, speaking on WEEI radio, said if he had been aware of electronic sign-stealing against the Yankees, he would have shut it down. ... Red Sox LHP David Price (inflamed left elbow) threw 30 pitches in the bullpen before the game, and the plan is for him to throw a simulated game Saturday. ... Boston 2B Dustin Pedroia, still nursing his left knee problem, was slotted in as the DH with the threat of wet grounds. He left for a pinch hitter in the sixth inning ... Both teams are off Thursday. The Blue Jays open a six-game homestand Friday against the Detroit Tigers. The Red Sox continue their nine-game homestand Friday against the Tampa Bay Rays. ... Blue Jays RHP Marcus Stroman, hit on the right elbow by a comebacker in his last start, hopes to start Friday.

Dickerson's bat, Kiermaier's glove lifts Rays past Jays

(TSX / STATS) -- ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Kevin Kiermaier is known as "The Outlaw" to many Tampa Bay Rays fans because of his ability to steal extra-base hits from opponents.

His latest victim -- the Toronto Blue Jays.

Kiermaier made two impressive defensive plays and Corey Dickerson added a late home run to lift the Rays to a 2-0 win against the Blue Jays on Thursday at Tropicana Field.

Kiermaier robbed Steve Pearce and Justin Smoak of potential extra-base hits as the Rays (63-66) closed out their six-game home stand by winning three of the final four games.

Toronto (60-67) has lost five of its last six games.

Despite the low score the game was not a pitcher's duel as Rays' starter Alex Cobb didn't get out of the fifth inning thanks in part to a high-pitch count. Cobb gave up four hits and struck out five but threw 94 pitches (53 strikes) in 4 1/3 innings.

The Rays bullpen, however, came through strong as Steve Cishek, Brad Boxberger, Sergio Romo and Alex Colome combined to give up two hits in 4 2/3 scoreless innings.

Cishek (2-0) pitched two-thirds of an inning to get the win and Colome struck out two in the ninth for his major-league leading 38th save.

"Really good performance from all of our pitchers," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "I thought Alex did a good job of competing. He felt good, which was most important. We needed to manage his workload given that he had 18-19 days off. The bullpen came in and stepped up in a huge way."

Blue Jays starter Tom Koehler did make it through five innings and took the loss (1-6), giving up four hits and one run while striking out seven.

"I felt good, I definitely threw more pitches earlier than I would like to," Koehler said. "After five innings you don't really want to be pushing 100 pitches and you're asking a lot from your bullpen. Early in the game I had a lot of adrenaline, it had been a while since I pitched so there was definitely some excitement. I was able to settle down late and get some quick outs."

Tampa Bay took a 1-0 lead when it loaded the bases against Koehler in the second inning and Dickerson scored on a sacrifice fly by Daniel Robertson.

Dickerson made it 2-0 in the eighth inning with a solo home run to straight-away center field off Blue Jays reliever Danny Barnes.

Toronto's best opportunity to score came in the top of the fifth when Miguel Montero and Ryan Goins got on base with no outs. Darwin Barney failed to bunt them over and instead grounded into a fielder's choice that got Montero out at third.

Kiermaier robbed Pearce of an extra-base hit with an amazing running, diving catch in the right-center gap.

"Any time you can take away hits like that, especially in a game like this, where runs are limited, it's huge. It was quite crazy. That's why it can be a game of inches."

The next batter, Donaldson, appeared to hit a two-run double down the left-field line but the Rays challenged the call and it was determined that the ball did not clip the chalk.

"Yeah, that foul ball...they must have better cameras up there," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "Because that looked like it caught something. But that's why they have replay."

After Donaldson walked, Justin Smoak hit a bloop to short center field and Kiermaier made another diving catch.

"Kiermaier, unbelievable," Gibbons said. "The first one and then of course to come in and get Smoak's ball the last time. That's what he does. We get the same stuff out of (Kevin) Pillar. Those guys win you games."

NOTES: Blue Jays RHP Tom Koehler hit Rays 2B Brad Miller with a 94-mph fastball between the shoulder blades. Miller, however, jogged to first base and stayed in the game until the fifth inning when he left with a right shoulder contusion). ... Blue Jays manager John Gibbons confirmed that RHP Marco Estrada is pitching Saturday against the Twins. ... Gibbons also said RHP Aaron Sanchez is throwing again after having problems with blisters on his finger. .. Rays RHP Jake Faria (left abdominal strain) was scheduled to do soft-toss catch Thursday after being shut down for three days.

Pillar's late homer lifts Jays past Rays

(TSX / STATS) -- ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Hit enough home runs, and even if they are solo shots, they will carry the Toronto Blue Jays to a streak-ending victory.

Toronto hit a season-high six home runs, five of them solo, including Kevin Pillar's shot in the eighth inning that gave the Blue Jays a 7-6 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday night at Tropicana Field.

"It was one of those games with a lot of home runs hit on both sides," Jays manager John Gibbons said. "We got some key outs late that we had to have, especially after they came back and tied it. Big home run from Pillar. Nice win."

The teams combined for nine home runs, matching the most in a Rays game.

Tampa Bay (62-66) came back from a 5-0 deficit to tie the score in the seventh, only to leave the bases loaded and see Toronto (60-66) snap a four-game losing streak.

Tampa Bay reliever Tommy Hunter (2-5) took the loss. Toronto's Ryan Tepera (7-1) picked up the win despite allowing the tying run to score in the seventh. Roberto Osuna secured the final four outs for his 33rd save.

"Tommy's had a tremendous year. You don't run away from somebody that's had as much success in our bullpen as Tommy's had," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "Two weeks ago, we were all clamoring that he's the MVP of the bullpen. That hasn't changed in a couple of outings."

Tampa Bay got back in the game by scoring in five straight innings -- two in the third, then a run in each inning from the fourth to the seventh.

The Rays tied the score in the seventh, starting with a walk to Kevin Kiermaier, who stole second and took third on a throwing error by catcher Raffy Lopez.

A second walk put runners at the corners for Evan Longoria, whose infield single deep to shortstop evened the score at 6. The Rays had two on and no outs with their 4-5-6 hitters up, but Tepera got out of the jam. He got two outs, walked the bases loaded and got Wilson Ramos to ground out to third.

Rays starter Austin Pruitt was in trouble from the start, giving up a double off the wall by Steve Pearce, then a two-run homer to Josh Donaldson.

"Looked like the velo (velocity) might have been down a little bit," Cash said. "If we don't keep the ball in the ballpark, we are not going to win."

The Jays followed with three solo home runs in the second -- Ryan Goins hit his sixth, Lopez his first and Pearce his 13th, for a 5-0 lead. Pruitt had as many home runs allowed (four) as outs, and he was done after 3 2/3 innings. He allowed five runs and seven hits.

The Rays started chipping into the lead in the third as Ramos singled and scored on Kiermaier's two-run homer, his ninth of the season.

Toronto's Justin Smoak countered with a solo shot in fifth -- his 34th of the year -- for a 6-3 lead. Kiermaier answered with his second home run of the night to cut the lead 6-4 in the fifth.

Blue Jays starter Marcus Stroman allowed five runs and eight hits (three of them homers) in 5 1/3 innings.

"It was a battle for him tonight -- I don't think his ball was sinking like it normally does," Gibbons said. "It was cutting more, and that's where he ran into trouble."

NOTES: LF Steve Pearce, DH Kendrys Morales and 2B Darwin Barney each had two hits for Toronto. Tampa Bay got three hits from CF Kevin Kiermaier and two apiece from RF Steven Souza Jr., LF Corey Dickerson and C Wilson Ramos. ... The Rays designated INF Trevor Plouffe for assignment and recalled RHP Andrew Kittredge from Triple-A Durham. Kittredge pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless, one-hit relief out of the bullpen. Plouffe was batting .178 with two RBIs in 31 games and 73 at-bats with the Rays. The addition of Lucas Duda at the trade deadline lessened the need for help at first base. ... Tampa Bay's announced attendance was 8,264, a season low at Tropicana Field.

Kiermaier helps Rays slay Blue Jays

(TSX / STATS) -- ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Rays are breaking out of their offensive slump at the right time thanks to the recent return of Kevin Kiermaier.

Kiermaier had two hits, including a two-run triple in the second inning, to help the Rays earn a 6-5 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night at Tropicana Field.

Wilson Ramos had three hits while Lucas Duda and Corey Dickerson had solo home runs as the Rays (62-65) won their second consecutive game. Toronto (59-66) lost its fourth straight.

Chris Archer (9-7) posted the win, giving up three runs (one earned) and striking out 10 in six innings. He yielded four hits and one walk.

"It was really nice for our offense to put up a bunch of runs early," Archer said. "I think that kind of relaxed the rest of the team."

The Blue Jays rallied against the Rays' bullpen but came up short.

Josh Donaldson hit a solo home run in the eighth off Rays reliever Tommy Hunter to make the score 6-4.

Kendrys Morales singled and Steve Pearce doubled off Alex Colome to give Toronto runners at second and third with no outs in the ninth. Miguel Montero hit a sacrifice fly to score Morales but Darwin Barney grounded to first and Ryan Goins lined out to right to leave Pearce stranded at third.

Colome earned his MLB-leading 37th save.

"I was just trying to keep the man on third," Colome said. "Just trying to get a pop up or a ground ball and I did."

Toronto got on the board in the first inning when Norichika Aoki hit the second pitch of the game over the right field wall for his fourth home run of the season and a 1-0 lead.

Tampa Bay tied the score at 1 in the bottom half of the inning on a home run by Lucas Duda -- his 23rd of the season and sixth with the Rays.

Tampa Bay touched up Blue Jays starter Chris Rowley (1-1) for three runs in the second inning. Corey Dickerson hit his 23rd home run -- a solo shot to deep right center.

Ramos followed with a single and Brad Miller drew a walk to put runners on first and second before Kiermaier delivered a triple to right-center to make it 4-1.

Rowley struggled with his control and left the game after giving up four runs and five hits in 3 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out one.

"That was a tough one," Rowley said. "I was a little bit up in the zone. The Rays did a good job of capitalizing on the pitches that I missed. I was working the corners a little bit and a got behind."

The Blue Jays battled back in the fifth against Archer.

Montero reached base on a dropped third strike, and Ezequiel Carerra followed with a double to put runners on second and third. Ryan Goins singled to score Montero, and Carerra scored on a sacrifice fly by Aoki to cut the deficit to 4-3.

"The guys battled back," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "We had a chance to tie it there in the ninth."

Ramos pushed the Rays' lead to 5-3 when his infield single scored Evan Longoria from third base in the fifth. Longoria also had an RBI triple in the sixth.

"It was nice to get some early runs out the gate," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "They hit the home run to lead off the game and we answered right back. We had some better at-bats than we had against Rowley up in Toronto."

NOTES: Blue Jays CF Kevin Pillar was ejected in the third inning by plate umpire Chad Fairchild. Pillar was going back to the dugout after grounding out to first and said something to Fairchild. He was ejected immediately and replaced by Ezequiel Carrera. "I didn't get an explanation, he just threw me out," Pillar said. "As I ran by home plate I offered my opinion on what I felt the first pitch of the at bat was. All I said was the first pitch was terrible. I didn't raise my voice. I didn't use any profanity.". ... Rays RHP Matt Andriese (hip) will make a rehab start for Triple-A Durham on Wednesday. ... Blue Jays C Russell Martin (left oblique) has missed nine games and is not close to returning, according to manager John Gibbons. ... Blue Jays RHP Nick Tepesch is off on a three-day paternity leave. He is expected to return Friday.

Blue Jays turn to Tepesch to try to tip scales vs. Cubs

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(TSX / STATS) -- CHICAGO -- Nick Tepesch doesn't have much of a major league track record this season with just three appearances with two teams since May.

But the right-hander could make a case for sticking around with the Toronto Blue Jays with a solid performance in Saturday's interleague game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

Tepesch (1-2, 5.25 ERA) was traded to Toronto from the Minnesota Twins in late July for cash considerations. He had been sidelined since late May with a right elbow injury.

He was pounded in his first start against the New York Yankees, allowing five runs and eight hits in an 11-5 Blue Jays loss on Aug. 9.

But Tepesch bounced back five days later with a quality start against Tampa Bay, allowing just one run on four hits while walking four per six innings in Toronto's 2-1 victory.

"His command was a little bit better, he stayed on the attack, we got some breaks, we ran some balls down, and he hung in there," Toronto manager John Gibbons told reporters. "We had a depleted bullpen and he gave us just what we needed."

Toronto (59-63) seeks to even the weekend interleague series with Chicago after the Cubs claimed a 7-4 victory in Friday's opener.

Tepesch and the Blue Jays will go against Cubs left-hander Jose Quintana (3-2, 3.86 ERA) in the series' middle game.

Quintana has been up and down since arriving in a trade with the Chicago White Sox as he approaches his seventh start with the Cubs and 25th of the season.

In his last outing -- a 15-5 Cubs win over Cincinnati on Aug. 14 -- he worked five inning and allowed two runs and four hits while striking out four and walking four.

Quintana will make his 10th career start against the Blue Jays and has pitched at least six innings in all nine previous outings, posting a 1.77 ERA.

"I'm just trying to do my job and hit my spots," Quintana told reporters after Monday's win over the Reds. "Things are a little new for me here, but I feel pretty good, so no pressure on me.

"The game doesn't change. You go to a different league, but it's the same. I try to use my strengths. I'm really happy with this outing because I needed that."

While with the White Sox this season, Quintana went 4-8 with a 4.49 ERA in 18 starts.

Saturday" interleague game will be only the fifth the Blue Jays have played at Wrigley Field.

Until Friday, Toronto had not been to the North Side ballpark since June 6-8, 2005. Friday's crowd of 41,814 included a healthy contingent of Blue Jays fans, with a large group also expected for the final two games.

The Blue Jays hold an 8-5 edge in games played at Wrigley Field and the Rogers Centre. The Cubs are 8-1 in their last nine interleague games and are now 9-7 overall against American League teams.

Arrieta pitches Cubs past Blue Jays

(TSX / STATS) -- CHICAGO -- Jake Arrieta has promised that his best pitching is yet to come.

It's hard to complain about his current production, however, as he produced his third straight win and seventh straight quality start in Friday's 7-4 interleague victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Arrieta (13-8) allowed a first-inning run and two hits and then scattered four hits the rest of the way in his 6 1/3-inning outing.

"I've located the ball really well, I've established certain things early on in the ballgame that allow me to do things differently as the game progresses," said Arrieta, who's yielded just 10 earned runs in his last seven starts.

"The game plan is always to utilize strengths and try to expose a weakness here and there with the opposing offense and try to pitch into the seventh inning."

The Cubs (64-57) maintained their perch atop the National League Central while the Blue Jays (59-63) saw a two-game winning streak come to a halt.

Toronto starter J.A. Happ (6-9) took the loss and had a three-game winning streak snapped.

"It was a battle for him," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "I thought he was OK. ... He had to work, he really had to work in those early innings."

Cubs closer Wade Davis pitched a one-two-three ninth to earn his 25th save.

Chicago shortstop Javier Baez (2-for-4) clubbed a two-run homer -- his 20th -- in the eighth inning while rookie catcher Victor Caratini went 3-for-3, walked and scored a run to lead the Cubs. Albert Almora Jr. and Anthony Rizzo each also had two hits in Chicago's 13-hit attack.

Toronto jumped to a short-lived 1-0 lead in the first as Steve Pearce singled to right-center and drove in Justin Smoak with two out.

Chicago replied with three runs in the second. Leadoff batter Ben Zobrist walked, reached third on Caratini's double and came home on a Jason Heyward single. Baez drove in Caratini with a base hit and Almora singled to shallow right to bring in Heyward.

The Cubs touched up Happ for two more runs in the fifth as Rizzo's double to left-center brought home Almora and Kris Bryant.

Happ lasted five innings before departing for left-handed reliever Aaron Loup. Happ gave up five runs on nine hits, walked two and struck out eight while throwing 103 pitches.

Arrieta left in the seventh after throwing 93 pitches and 61 for strikes. Right-handed reliever Carl Edwards Jr. inherited runners on first and second with one out. He got pinch hitter Kendrys Morales to ground into a fielder's choice to first and Rizzo fired home to Caratini to catch Kevin Pillar trying to score from third. Edwards closed the frame by striking out Jose Bautista.

Arrieta allowed one run on six hits, walked two and struck out six.

"Today he threw a lot of strikes, he gets ahead in the count that's when he good," said Blue Jays catcher Miguel Montero, who caught Arrieta for several seasons while with the Cubs. "That's why he went deep in the game."

The Blue Jays hit Cubs reliever Pedro Strop for three eighth-inning runs, including a two-run single by Ryan Goins that scored Montero and Pillar and make it a one-run game.

Chicago replied with a one-out, two-run homer by Baez off reliever Tim Mayza in the bottom of the inning for a 7-4 lead.

NOTES: The weekend interleague series is the Blue Jays' first visit to Wrigley Field since June 6-8, 2005, the second longest gap beaten the Cubs and any opponent in franchise history. ... Toronto has played only four all-time games at Wrigley, the fewest by any major league team. ... The Blue Jays send RHP Nick Tepesch (1-2, 5.25 ERA) against Cubs LHP Jose Quintana (3-2, 3.86 ERA) in Saturday's game. ... The Cubs placed LHP Jon Lester (left lat tightness/general shoulder fatigue) and RHP Justin Grimm (finger infection) on the 10-day disabled list on Friday. They called up RHP Felix Pena and LHP Rob Zastryzny from Triple-A Iowa). ... With two solo homers on Thursday, Cubs rookie Ian Happ became only the second Cubs player since at least 1913 with three multi-homer games in his first 78 career games.

Blue Jays' Rowley soldiers on with career, faces Rays

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(TSX / STATS) -- TORONTO -- Chris Rowley made history Saturday, becoming the first graduate of West Point to pitch in the major leagues.

The Toronto Blue Jays right-hander won the game, holding the Pittsburgh Pirates to one run in 5 1/3 innings.

Rowley (1-0, 1.69 ERA) makes his second start Thursday in the finale of a four-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays at the Rogers Centre.

Tampa Bay will start right-hander Chris Archer (8-7, 3.84 ERA).

The Rays showed signs of emerging from an offensive slump when they defeated the Blue Jays 6-4 on Tuesday in the second game of the series.

They reverted to their recent ways Wednesday, though, with a 3-2 loss to the Blue Jays. Tampa Bay needs a win Thursday to escape with a split against its American League East rival.

The Rays stranded nine baserunners Wednesday.

"Tight ballgame," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "We had our opportunities but just weren't able to capitalize."

The Rays (60-62) have been held to two or fewer runs eight times over their past 12 games, going 3-9 in that span.

The Blue Jays (58-62) are 9-5 in their past 14 games and have allowed two or fewer runs in five of their past seven contests.

The Rays adjusted their lineup for the Wednesday game, moving Corey Dickerson from the leadoff spot to sixth in the order with Brad Miller batting first.

"Maybe just a change of scenery for both the guys that got flip-flopped will do some good," Cash said. "I like the way that Brad has gotten on base. That helps. And Corey, to be able to drop him down, give him a blow in some of those big pressure situations, might help get him going also."

Miller is not likely to remain in the leadoff spot, but Dickerson is likely to remain lower in the order for a while.

"Giving him some time to get some stuff in order," Cash said.

Miller was 1-for-4 with one RBI on Wednesday while Dickerson was 2-for-4 with a double.

It was Dickerson's first multi-hit game since Aug. 3. In his 10 previous games, he was 4-for-44.

Archer ended a run of 15 consecutive starts in which he had pitched at least six innings when he lasted 5 1/3 frames against the Cleveland Indians on Saturday. He allowed seven hits, two walks and three runs while striking out eight in a 3-0 loss.

He will be making his 23rd career start against the Blue Jays.

Archer is 6-4 with a 3.13 career ERA against the Blue Jays, his most frequent opponent. In three starts against Toronto this season, he is 0-0 with a 2.57 ERA. He has made 10 career starts at the Rogers Centre, going 3-2 with a 2.98 ERA.

Rowley allowed five hits and one walk while striking out three against the Pirates.

"Awesome, really, and we've been looking for that," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "He looked very confident out there. He had good life on his fastball, good sink to his fastball. Threw some good breaking balls. A debut is never easy, but I thought he did a tremendous job. He ought to feel proud of himself and excited."

Rowley received a standing ovation at Rogers Centre when he was replaced in the sixth inning.

"That was really, really cool," Rowley said. "Having my family here to share it with me, walking off and all those people standing, that was something that was really special for me. I don't think anybody really expects to experience that in their life, but it was pretty special."

Pearce, Stroman lead Blue Jays past Rays

(TSX / STATS) -- TORONTO -- Marcus Stroman has been stingy most of this season.

He has held opponents to three or fewer runs in 20 of his 25 starts this season, including the two he allowed in 6 1/3 innings in a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday night.

"He's got the stuff to get through a lineup three or four times," said Blue Jays bench coach DeMarlo Hale, who took over when manager John Gibbons was ejected in the seventh inning. "He can attack either side of the plate with different pitches. He keeps guys off-balance when he's down in the zone and you know he's working when he gets the ground balls."

Steve Pearce hit a solo homer for the Blue Jays (58-62), who have won two of the first three games of the four-game series. The Rays (60-62) will try for the split Thursday afternoon.

Stroman (11-6) allowed six hits and three walks while striking out seven.

"Stroman is tough." Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "We knew that coming in. He's having a good year. He keeps the ball on the ground. He's a very tough guy to get anything up in the air. We just weren't able to piece together big enough innings."

Roberto Osuna pitched around a leadoff single by Mallex Smith in the ninth for his 31st save of the season.

A key play was made by shortstop Darwin Barney, who moved from second base to shortstop when Ryan Goins was injured in the sixth. He made a diving stop on a grounder by Adeiny Hechavarria up the middle. He flipped to second baseman Rob Refsnyder to get the force out.

"That was a huge play by Darwin Barney," Stroman said.

Rays starter Jake Faria (5-4) allowed six hits, two walks and three runs in 5 1/3 innings. He hit a batter and struck out three.

"I don't think Jake was at his best, at his sharpest," Cash said. "Saying that, though, he pitched a pretty good ballgame. We didn't really help."

Pearce, who homered in the fourth, led off the bottom of the sixth with a double that deflected off the glove of left fielder Corey Dickerson. He moved to third on Kevin Pillar's groundout to shortstop, and Dan Jennings replaced Faria.

Goins grounded an RBI single up the middle to give Toronto 3-1 lead.

One batter later, Goins was out trying to advance to second on a ball in the dirt, and left the game after Rays shortstop Daniel Robertson stepped on his left wrist.

Stroman exited in the seventh after loading the bases on a one-out walk to Smith, a single by Jesus Sucre and a walk to Brad Miller.

Aaron Loup replaced Stroman and walked pinch hitter Steven Souza Jr. to force in a run and cut the lead to 3-2.

Gibbons was ejected for arguing the calls as he brought in Dominic Leone to replace Loup. Leone ended the inning by putting a called third strike past Evan Longoria and inducing a popup to second from Logan Morrison.

"You can't say enough good things about (Leone)," catcher Raffy Lopez said. "He just comes right at you with a hard fastball, his stuff is just so good it's hard to hit. He comes at you, he's not scared."

Toronto's Ryan Tepera pitched a perfect top of the eighth.

Jose Bautista lined an RBI double to right-center field in the third inning to give Toronto a 1-0 lead. Lopez, who had walked with one out, scored the run. After Bautista's hit, Faria hit Josh Donaldson with a pitch before retiring Justin Smoak on a popup to third and striking out Kendrys Morales.

Pearce led off the bottom of the fourth with a first-pitch homer to right to make the score 2-0.

Tampa Bay got a run back in the fifth. Smith led off with a double, took third on groundout to second by Sucre and scored on a groundout to second by Miller.

NOTES: Blue Jays manager John Gibbons was ejected for the fifth time this season. ... INF Ryan Goins will be re-evaluated Thursday, but bench coach DeMarlo Hale said his injured left wrist showed no fractures. ... C Miguel Montero (right groin strain) was activated from the 10-day disabled list, and RHP Dominic Leone was activated from the bereavement list. LHP J.P. Howell and C Mike Ohlman were designated for assignment to make room for them on the roster. ... Tampa Bay RF Steven Souza Jr. did not start to give him a break from the artificial turf at the Rogers Centre. He entered as a pinch hitter and went 0-for-1 with a walk. ... Blue Jays RHP Chris Rowley (1-0, 1.69 ERA) will make his second career major league start Thursday afternoon in the series finale when he faces Rays RHP Chris Archer (8-7, 3.84).

Rays hope to build on breakout game vs. Jays

Stats, LLC

(TSX / STATS) -- TORONTO -- After a prolonged team slump, the Tampa Bay Rays suddenly were hitting again Tuesday in a 6-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

They produced 13 hits, and they hope the offense continues into the third game of a four-game series Wednesday night at the Rogers Centre.

The Rays had scored only 12 runs in their previous 10 games, eight of them losses, including a 2-1 defeat to Toronto on Monday.

"It was outstanding to get some runs on the board," Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said. "The guys felt really good. I think there was a genuine feel like a little bit of relief. They know what they've gone through, and they haven't changed the way they've gone about it.

"I think I was most impressed at the looseness we had throughout the game. The hope is it gets us going, for sure. There's a lot of smiles, a lot of cheering going right now. That's important. ... We're all aware of what we've gone through over the last 10 games."

The teams are 7-7 in the season series.

The Rays will start right-hander Jake Faria (5-3, 3.19 ERA) Wednesday against Blue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman (10-6, 3.00).

In ending their four-game losing streak Tuesday, the Rays managed their biggest hit total since they had 14 knocks against the Texas Rangers on July 15. They had not scored six runs since Aug. 1 against the Houston Astros.

Tampa Bay once again had success against Blue Jays right-hander Marco Estrada, who allowed 10 hits and six runs. He is 0-4 with a 10.61 ERA against the Rays this season and is 0-7 with a 7.75 ERA in his past eight starts against them.

"Just one of those teams that has my number, I haven't been able then figure them out," Estrada said. "I felt OK today and thought I did make some decent pitches, and next thing you know, I'm down six runs."

The Rays figure to have a more difficult time with Stroman.

Stroman is 3-2 with a 1.94 ERA over his past nine starts overall. He took his first loss since July 3 on Friday when he allowed four unearned runs in eight innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates, with his defense betraying him. The damage was done in a four-run third inning when the Blue Jays committed two errors.

"I just did my best job to battle," Stroman said after the game. "The defense has had my back all year. They've made unbelievable plays for me all year. I felt like I should have done a better job in that situation of buckling down and getting my team out of that. Just a tough inning, but my stuff felt great."

Stroman will be trying for his second win of the season against Tampa Bay. He is 1-0 with a 1.98 ERA in two starts against the Rays this season and is 4-4 with a 4.17 ERA in nine career starts against them.

Faria will try for his second win in two starts against the Blue Jays. His only previous appearance against Toronto Jays came June 13 when he allowed six hits, one walk and one run while striking out eight in 6 1/3 innings in his second career start.

It was the second of three straight starts in which he had pitched six innings or longer and allowed one or no runs to begin his career.

Faria gave up a career-high five runs Friday against the Cleveland Indians, the second time in 12 career starts that he allowed more than three runs.

Snell gets rare win as Rays top Jays

(TSX / STATS) -- TORONTO -- The struggling Tampa Bay Rays needed that.

They needed the first win of the season by Blake Snell. They needed the return of a long dormant offense that provided two home runs.

With Snell winning for the first time since Sept. 22, Lucas Duda hitting a two-run homer and Wilson Ramos adding a solo shot, the Rays defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 6-4 on Tuesday night.

"We needed that win," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "Looking at all (Snell's) starts, you could probably make the argument that that might have been his best one. I thought his stuff was really good. It was outstanding to get some runs on the board. The guys felt really good."

The Rays had scored only 12 runs in their previous 10 games, losing eight of them.

Snell (1-6) allowed seven hits, one walk and four runs while striking out four in six innings.

"Everyone was hitting well and having good at-bats," Snell said. "It's been tough."

Alex Colome earned his 35th save with a perfect ninth, striking out two.

The Rays (60-61) ended a four-game losing streak as the teams split the first two contests of a four-game series.

Josh Donaldson hit a three-run homer for the Blue Jays (57-62), who had a three-game winning string stopped.

Marco Estrada (5-8) allowed six runs, 10 hits and four walks in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out three.

He has an ERA of 7.75 and is 0-7 in his past eight starts against Tampa Bay.

"Just one of those teams that has my number," Estrada said. "I haven't been able to figure them out. I felt OK today and thought I did make some decent pitches and next thing you know I'm down six runs."

The Blue Jays scored a run in the second inning when Steve Pearce singled and came home on a double by Kevin Pillar that took a big bounce over right fielder Steven Souza Jr.

Duda hit his 21st homer of the season -- his fourth since joining the Rays in a trade with the New York Mets on June 27 -- two batters after Daniel Robertson singled in the third to put the Rays into a 2-1 lead.

Ramos led off the fourth with his fifth homer of the season, his second of the series. Adeiny Hechavarria blooped a double down the right field line that fell among three fielders and scored on Corey Dickerson's single to give the Rays a 4-1 lead.

Tampa Bay built its lead to 6-1 in the fifth on singles by Logan Morrison, Souza and Ramos, the latter a fly ball that center fielder Pillar lost in the twilight, and bases-loaded walks to Hechavarria and Robertson.

The Blue Jays failed to get the double play on a line drive to second by Mallex Smith. Second baseman Rob Refsnyder flipped to shortstop Darwin Barney, who failed to control the ball, when Morrison appeared to be doubled up at second. At first it was ruled a double play but a video review overturned the call and Morrison was safe.

"I'm upset at myself for letting it get to me," Estrada said. "I know everybody's trying hard, I'm trying hard. Everybody knows that team has given me a hard time and when some of those plays aren't made, it's hard to let it go sometimes. Normally, I don't really think about that stuff, I let it go... today it obviously affected me and I walked the next two guys, walked two guys in. There's no excuse for that."

"I thought he had pretty good stuff tonight," Gibbons said. "But, for whatever reason, it's been a tough matchup. We had a tough inning. We didn't turn two on that ball, the line drive. And Kevin (Pillar) lost (the single) in the twilight, it's a tough sky, it happens. Overall it didn't look good, but his stuff was good."

Matt Dermody replaced Estrada to get the final two outs of the fifth.

The Blue Jays scored three on Donaldson's 18th homer in the bottom of the fifth. The blast also scored Barney, who singled with one out, and Jose Bautista, who followed with a double.

"That's what they do, they work, they grind," Snell said. "You can't shut them out forever."

NOTES: Rays OF Steven Souza Jr. has 25 homers this season, all against right-handed pitchers. He is the first right-handed hitter in the expansion era (starting in 1961) to hit his first 25 homers of the season against right-handers. Souza went 2-for-4 with a double Tuesday. ... Toronto 3B Josh Donaldson hit his ninth first-inning homer of the season Monday. ... Toronto RHP Nick Tepesch earned the win Monday without striking out a batter in six-plus innings. It was the first time a Blue Jays starter had won without a strikeout while pitching at least six innings since RHP R.A. Dickey did it May 14, 2015, against the New York Yankees. ... Rays RHP Jake Faria (5-3, 3.19 ERA) opposes Blue Jays RHP Marcus Stroman (10-6, 3.00) on Wednesday.

Donaldson, Tepesch lead Blue Jays past Rays

(TSX / STATS) -- TORONTO -- It has been a long time between major league wins for Nick Tepesch.

Before he pitched six-plus innings to earn the decision in the Toronto Blue Jays' 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays Monday night, he had not won since Sept. 16, 2014, when he was with the Texas Rangers.

It came at the right time for the Blue Jays, who have won eight of their past 12 games.

"It's huge for any ballclub when your starter is able to give you some depth and also put up a lot of zeroes," said Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson, who hit a two-run homer in the first inning. "He did a great job of battling all throughout the game, wiggled his way out of some trouble there. I thought it was a huge start for us."

It was the second start for Tepesch with the Blue Jays. He allowed three home runs in taking the loss against the New York Yankees Wednesday.

"I thought his command was a little better tonight," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "He stayed on the attack. We got some breaks, we ran some balls down. He hung in there. We had a depleted bullpen tonight."

Tepesch (1-2) allowed only one homer Monday and that was to Wilson Ramos in the second inning, although at least four Tampa Bay outs against him were caught at the warning track.

"We hit some balls really hard, we hit some balls really high," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "It looked like we had four or five just-misses."

The Rays (59-61) have lost four in a row.

Tepesch gave up four hits and three walks. The right-hander hit two batters and had no strikeouts as the Blue Jays (57-61) won their third game in a row.

Roberto Osuna pitched a perfect 1 1/3 innings to earn his 30th save of the season.

Rays starter Jake Odorizzi (6-6) allowed three hits, three walks and two runs while striking out four in six innings.

"After the first inning, everything felt really great," Odorizzi said. "Just something to build on."

Tepesch did not get an out in the seventh, hitting Peter Bourjos with a pitch and walking Daniel Robertson before being replaced by Aaron Loup.

Corey Dickerson's short-hop grounder to second forced Robertson at second. Bourjos, who returned to the bag at second, was declared safe after a video review that took 3:07.

Lucas Duda struck out looking and Evan Longoria hit a bloop to second to end the inning.

"I just felt like I made some better pitches at some critical times," Tepesch said. "I let the one inning get away from me and left Loup in a tough spot at the end but he bailed us out of it and did a great job."

Tampa Bay's Sergio Romo pitched around a leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh.

After Loup gave up a walk and struck out two in the top of the eighth, he was replaced by Osuna, who ended the inning on a groundout to shortstop by Ramos.

Tampa Bay's Brad Boxberger allowed a leadoff double to Donaldson and issued an intentional walk in two-thirds of an inning in the bottom of the eighth before Dan Jennings finished the inning.

Toronto led 2-0 in the first inning when Donaldson belted his 17th homer of the season, following Jose Bautista's leadoff walk.

"Just a high fastball," Odorizzi said. "He put enough on it that it was able to get out. I was trying to elevate and he got enough of it. It's a game of inches. If that's a couple of inches shorter, we might have had a 1-0 game."

Ramos cut the lead to 2-1 with two outs in the second when he ended an 0-for-10 drought with his fourth home run of the season.

The Rays loaded the bases in the fourth inning on two walks and a hit batter with two outs. The inning ended when Dickerson flied out to the warning track in right field.

"(Tepesch) really gave us just what we needed and Loup, you can't say enough about the job he came in and did," Gibbons said.

NOTES: Rays RHP Chase Whitley was recalled from Triple-A Durham Monday after the team sent LHP Jose Alvarado down on option on Sunday. ... Toronto LHP Tim Mayza was selected from Triple-A Buffalo Monday, and RHP Leonel Campos was returned to the Bisons on option. RHP Taylor Cole (fractured right toe) was given his unconditional release to clear space on the 40-man roster. ... Toronto RHP Chris Smith cleared waivers Monday and was assigned outright to Buffalo. He had been designated for assignment on Saturday. ... Rays LHP Blake Snell (0-6, 4.69 ERA) will face Blue Jays RHP Marco Estrada (5-7, 4.85) on Tuesday.

Donaldson's blast helps Blue Jays rout Pirates

(TSX / STATS) -- TORONTO -- As far as John Gibbons is concerned, the Toronto Blue Jays' 7-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday afternoon was just another step in the long climb to reach the .500 mark and make a possible, though improbable, late run at a postseason spot.

What he did not realize is that it also was the 700th win as the Blue Jays' manager.

"It was, huh?" he said.

Josh Donaldson keyed a five-run first inning with a two-run homer and left-hander J.A. Happ struck out eight in six innings in the rubber match of the three-game interleague series.

The Blue Jays have won their past two series, including one against the New York Yankees to open the homestand.

As far as what his team must do the rest of the dwindling schedule to contend for a playoff spot, Gibbons he said. "I mean, I don't know, you don't know, nobody knows, just go out there and run this thing out and see where we end up. ... we're playing good baseball."

Darwin Barney and Justin Smoak added solo shots for the Blue Jays and Ryan Goins had a two-run double.

Happ (6-8) allowed four hits, three walks and one run while winning his third straight start.

"Usually in most games we try to go with what works, and the offspeed was working for me today so we tried to capitalize on that," Happ said.

Pittsburgh's Chad Kuhl (5-8) allowed four hits, five walks and five runs (four earned) in six innings.

"Three pitches got in the hot zone of their hitters," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "They didn't miss the balls that were left out over the plate and (Kuhl) didn't throw enough strikes. The combination of the two put us in a hole."

The Pirates (58-60) scored once in the first inning on singles by Josh Harrison, Andrew McCutchen and David Freese.

The Blue Jays (56-61) scored five runs in the bottom of the first.

"I couldn't get a rhythm there in the first," Kuhl said. "You try your best to find that rhythm and it just took a little longer today. They were on it from pitch one. They were ready from the get-go."

Jose Bautista led off with a walk and Donaldson hit his 16th homer of the season. Smoak doubled, Ezequiel Carrera walked and both scored on the double by Goins.

An error by third baseman Freese on Kevin Pillar's grounder put runners at the corners. Pillar stole second and Goins stole home to increase the lead to 5-1.

Happ walked two batters with two outs in the sixth inning before striking out Jordy Mercer to end the inning.

"Happ was really good, I thought he was a little bit off early in the game but he found that groove and he was sticking it much better," Gibbons said. "He's been on a nice roll since he came back from the elbow issues."

Happ admitted there was some enjoyment to beating a team that he pitched well for in the second half of 2015.

"Yeah, a little bit," he said. "I have nothing but great memories there, I like that group but it feels good, for sure."

"I think he was able to pitch to a liberal strike zone," Hurdle said. "We were challenged at times. I'd come back up and look and think 'Man, that's hard to cover that much territory at the plate.' He was able to maintain those areas, stay in those areas. We couldn't get that ball in the gap when we needed it."

Wade LeBlanc replaced Kuhl in the bottom of the sixth and allowed Barney's third homer of the season with two outs.

Danny Barnes pitched a perfect top of the seventh.

Smoak hit his 32nd homer of the season in the bottom of the seventh.

Toronto's Leonel Campos allowed two one-out walks in the eighth before Ryan Tepera retired the final two batters of the inning on a strikeout and a popout to first.

J.P. Howell pitched a perfect ninth.

NOTES: Pirates OF Andrew McCutchen (sore left knee) returned to the lineup Sunday as a DH after missing the game Saturday. ... Pirates OF Gregory Polanco (left hamstring) was not in the lineup Sunday after leaving the game Saturday with the injury. ... Toronto RHP Dominic Leone was put on the bereavement list, and LHP Matt Dermody was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo. ... Pirates manager Clint Hurdle returned to the team after missing Friday and Saturday to attend the funeral of Don Baylor. Bench coach Tom Prince managed the first two games of the series. ... Pittsburgh RHP Ivan Nova (10-9, 3.87 ERA) will start the opener of a two-game set in Milwaukee on Tuesday against Brewers RHP Brandon Woodruff (1-1, 1.50 ERA). ... Toronto RHP Nick Tepesch (0-2, 9.00) will start against Tampa Bay RHP Jake Odorizzi (6-5, 4.38 ERA) in the opener or a four-game series in Toronto.

Rowley wins MLB debut as Blue Jays beat Pirates

(TSX / STATS) -- TORONTO -- Chris Rowley has made the unusual transition from West Point graduate to a major league pitcher and he gave the Toronto Blue Jays all they could have wanted Saturday afternoon in winning his debut.

The 26-year-old, who signed a minor league contract with the Blue Jays in 2013 after he was not drafted before embarking on his U.S. Army commitment, allowed one run in 5 1/3 innings in a 7-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

"Awesome really," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "We've been looking for that. First off, I thought he looked very confident out there. He had good life to his fastball, good sink to his fastball, threw some good breaking balls, he's athletic. A debut is never easy, but he did a tremendous job."

Rowley befuddled the Pittsburgh hitters.

"He kept people off balance, he moved the ball around the zone," said Pirates bench coach Tom Prince, who ran the team while manager Clint Hurdle attended the funeral of former star player and manager Don Baylor.

Rob Refsnyder had three hits for the Blue Jays, who gained a split of the first two games of the three-game interleague series.

Jordy Mercer hit his 11th home run for Pittsburgh in the ninth inning off Leonel Campos.

Rowley (1-0) allowed five hits and one walk while striking out three before leaving to a standing ovation.

"That was really, really cool," said Rowley, who had his family in the crowd. "Walking off and all those people standing, that was something really special for me. I don't think anybody really expects to experience that in their life."

Pirates starter Trevor Williams (5-5) allowed four hits, four walks and four runs (three earned) in six innings. The right-hander struck out seven and both batters he hit with pitches scored.

"We weren't going to give in to certain guys," Williams said. "They're a team that can really hurt you with the long ball. I shot myself in the foot a few times. I didn't necessarily make it super easy on myself."

Toronto scored once in the first after Jose Bautista walked, took third on a single by Justin Smoak and scored when Steve Pearce hit a fielder's choice grounder to second.

The Pirates (58-59) tied it in the second on a leadoff triple by Josh Bell and an RBI single by Mercer.

The Blue Jays (55-61) regained the lead in the bottom of the second. Kevin Pillar was hit by a pitch to lead off, Refsnyder singled and Bautista and Josh Donaldson walked to force in a run.

Toronto scored two runs (one unearned) in the fifth, keyed by an error by second baseman Adam Frazier.

Bautista was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Donaldson blooped a single to right and, with one out, Pearce walked. Pinch hitter Kendrys Morales grounded to shortstop and Pearce was forced at second as one run scored. Frazier made an errant throw to first and the second run scored.

Rowley was removed with one out in the sixth inning after allowing a single and a walk.

"I felt pretty calm," Rowley said. "I felt pretty nervous last night in anticipation but once I threw the ball I felt calm for the most part. When I came off I got pretty emotional. You've got 45,000 people on their feet. It's the first time I've seen that in person and my family was out there."

Dominic Leone replaced Rowley and finished the inning with a strikeout and a groundout to the catcher.

Leone pitched around a single in the seventh, finishing the inning with two strikeouts.

The Blue Jays scored three runs (one earned) in the bottom of the seventh against Joaquin Benoit.

Smoak and Pearce singled. Both scored on a throwing error by third baseman Josh Harrison, who barehanded a soft grounder by Mike Ohlman and threw wildly to first.

Ohlman, who was given credit for an infield single, continued to third on the error and scored on Pillar's sacrifice fly.

Toronto's Aaron Loup allowed a walk and a single in two-thirds of an inning in the top of the eighth that Ryan Tepera finished with a strikeout.

Pittsburgh's A.J. Schugel allowed only a single in the bottom of the eighth.

NOTES: Pittsburgh RF Gregory Polanco left the game during the fifth inning, limping off the field after charging a bloop single. "Something grabbed him and that was it," Pirates bench coach Tom Prince said. "That's why we took him out of the game." ... Toronto C Russell Martin (strained left oblique) went on the 10-day disabled list Saturday and C Mike Ohlman was selected from Triple-A Buffalo. ... Toronto RHP Chris Rowley was selected from Triple-A Buffalo to make the start Saturday, while RHP Chris Smith and INF/OF Chris Coghlan were designated for assignment. ... Pirates CF Andrew McCutchen (left patellofemoral discomfort) was not in the lineup Saturday after leaving the game Friday in the third inning. OF Starling Marte started in center field. ... Toronto 3B Josh Donaldson was used as designated hitter and Darwin Barney played third base on Saturday. ... Pittsburgh RHP Chad Kuhl (5-7, 4.53 ERA) will oppose Blue Jays LHP J.A. Happ (5-8, 3.77) Sunday in the series finale.

Estrada snaps slide as Jays blank Yanks

(TSX / STATS) -- TORONTO -- Marco Estrada had been pitching too well recently not to win sooner or later.

It finally clicked for the Toronto Blue Jays starter Thursday night when he delivered seven scoreless innings in a 4-0 victory over the New York Yankees.

It was his first win since May 27, even though it was the third straight start in which he had pitched seven innings.

"I don't think he could be any better than tonight," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "Really his last three starts. It's like he's found that groove again. No matter what he's throwing, he's locating it, they're not picking up the changeup."

Estrada (5-7) allowed five hits and three walks while striking out six to end the drought of 12 starts without a win.

"We just couldn't square him up when we had guys in scoring position," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

Jose Bautista hit a solo home run for the Blue Jays (54-60), who have a 7-6 lead in the season series with the Yankees (60-53).

"I've been feeling good for a little while now," Estrada said. "I've changed my mechanics a little bit. And things are kind of working out now, I feel like I've got a pretty good downhill plane when throwing fastballs and changeups. I've been able to elevate a lot. It's kind of going back to how I was pitching before."

"Everything looks like a fastball," Yankees third baseman Todd Frazier said. "We were out front today. He was very effective with that changeup."

Sonny Gray (6-7), starting for the second time since the Yankees obtained him in a trade with the Oakland Athletics, allowed three runs (two earned), four hits and four walks in six innings. The right-hander struck out six and is 0-2 with the Yankees.

"Clearly, I wasn't throwing enough strikes," Gray said. "I just gave them too many free passes and I just didn't throw enough strikes, definitely not enough quality strikes."

Estrada also was mentioned in trade rumors leading to the deadline and he said not being traded has eased his mind.

"It's a little weight off your shoulders when you know you're not going anywhere," he said. "I know we still have a month and things could happen but I'm really not thinking about it anymore."

Ezequiel Carrera doubled with one out in the second inning, took third on Gray's errant pickoff attempt and slid home safely after the pitcher scooped the ball to catcher Gary Sanchez on a trickler by Ryan Goins.

The Blue Jays went up 2-0 in the third on a walk and stolen base by Bautista, and a single by Josh Donaldson.

Toronto took a 3-0 lead in the fourth. Pearce led off with a single, Carrera sacrificed him to second, Goins walked and Kevin Pillar rapped an RBI single to left.

"Sonny's tough, you're not going to knock him around a lot," Gibbons said. "You have to take advantage of any opportunity."

Bautista hit his 19th homer of the season with two out in the seventh against reliever Chasen Shreve to increase Toronto's lead to four runs.

Toronto's Ryan Tepera pitched around a single in the eighth and Roberto Osuna worked around two walks by striking out three in the ninth.

"We haven't been as consistent (offensively) in the second half," Girardi said. "The guys are working at it. There's early BP, they're doing their cage work, they're doing everything. It's just been a little bit of a struggle. This is who we have and we have to get the job done."

The Yankees are home to the Red Sox for a three-game series starting Friday.

"It's really important," Girardi said. "You've got to stay in striking distance so when you have a chance to play them, you can make up ground. You can't rely on other teams."

NOTES: Yankees OF Clint Frazier (left oblique strain) went on the 10-day disabled list Thursday and OF Aaron Hicks (right oblique strain) was reinstated from the DL. ... Toronto RHP Taylor Cole (fractured right toe) was put on the disabled list Thursday after he was hit on the foot by a comebacker during his major league debut Wednesday. RHP Chris Smith was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo to take his place. ... Toronto DH Kendrys Morales (illness) was a late scratch Thursday and RF Jose Bautista moved to DH and OF Ezequiel Carrera played right field. ... Yankees LHP Jaime Garcia (5-8, 4.49 ERA) will face Boston Red Sox LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (4-3, 4.08) on Friday in New York. ... RHP Marcus Stroman (10-5, 3.17) will oppose Pittsburgh Pirates RHP Jameson Taillon (6-5, 4.60) on Friday in Toronto.

Yankees power past Blue Jays, 11-5

(TSX / STATS) -- TORONTO -- Masahiro Tanaka was not at his best Wednesday night, failing to pitch the required five innings to qualify for the win.

It did not matter to the New York Yankees, who had solo home runs from Gary Sanchez, Didi Gregorius and Todd Frazier in a 17-hit barrage.

It added up to an 11-5 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays, who had climbed back into the game and cut the Yankees' lead to 6-5.

"We had a chance to win it and they just blew it open," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said.

Garrett Cooper had his career four-hit game and added two RBIs for the Yankees (60-52). Frazier had three RBIs and three hits, and Gregorius added three hits for New York.

"Everybody came through today," Frazier said. "We needed that. That was a good win for us, a good offensive outburst. Hopefully, we can build on that."

Yankees manager Joe Girardi said, "(Cooper) was big for us tonight.When our offense was really going good, that's what we were doing."

Jose Bautista homered for the Blue Jays (53-60) as the teams split the first two games of the three-game series.

Tanaka allowed two hits, five walks and three runs (two earned) in four-plus innings. Reliever Chad Green (2-0) gave up two runs in 1 1/3 innings and was awarded the win.

"(Tanaka's) split wasn't very good tonight," Girardi said. "I thought his slider was good, I thought his fastball was OK. He didn't really have his split tonight."

Toronto's Nick Tepesch (0-2), who was brought up from Triple-A Buffalo for the start, allowed eight hits, including three solo home runs, and five runs in 4 1/3 innings.

I thought he did a solid job," Gibbons said. "He gave up a few solo home runs. I thought he was aggressive, he attacked, I like his mentality, I like the way he went after it."

Sanchez led off the second with his 18th homer of the season and Frazier followed with his 19th.

The Blue Jays scored a run in the bottom of the second on a groundout to second by Norichika Aoki. It knocked in Steve Pearce, who led off with a walk and took third on Kevin Pillar's double.

Gregorius hit his 18th homer of the season with two outs in the third.

Pearce hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third to cut the Yankees' lead to 3-2. It scored Raffy Lopez, who reached first base on catcher's interference and moved to third after walks by Josh Donaldson and Justin Smoak.

Tepesch left with one out in the fifth after a walk to Aaron Judge and a double by Gregorius. Leonel Campos replaced Tepesch and allowed a two-out, two-run double to Frazier and an RBI double to Jacoby Ellsbury, and the Yankees led 6-2.

"They took advantage of some pitches I left over the plate and kind of up in the zone and they did a good job of hitting them," Tepesch said. "I thought it was OK. Most of the times, solo home runs are not going to hurt you, I gave up three tonight. It wasn't horrible, but I didn't think it was great, either."

Bautista led off the bottom of the fifth with is 18th homer of the season. After Donaldson walked, Green replaced Tanaka and finished the inning with three strikeouts.

The Blue Jays cut the Yankees' lead to 6-5 with two runs in the sixth.

After Ryan Goins hit a one-out RBI double, a wild pitch moved him to third base. Lopez walked. Bautista fouled out to the catcher, but Donaldson hit an RBI single.

Frazier led off the eighth with a single, his third hit of the game, which was followed by a double to Cooper two batters later. Ronald Torreyes then hit a two-run single to increase the Yankees' advantage to 8-5.

New York added three runs in the ninth.

NOTES: Yankees RF Clint Frazier (left oblique) was a late scratch with a tight oblique and will have an MRI on Thursday. INF Garrett Cooper replaced him in the No. 8 spot in the lineup and played first base. Aaron Judge was moved from DH to right field. ... Toronto SS Troy Tulowitzki (sprained right ankle) went on the 60-day disabled list to open a 40-man roster spot for RHP Nick Tepesch, whose contract was selected from Triple-A Buffalo. LHP Matt Dermody was optioned to Buffalo. ... CF Aaron Hicks (right oblique strain) is batting .333 (8-for-24) with three doubles, a home run and three RBIs after seven games of his rehabilitation assignment at Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He could rejoin the Yankees this weekend. ... Yankees RHP Sonny Gray (6-6, 3.41 ERA) faces Blue Jays RHP Marco Estrada (4-7, 5.12 ERA) in the series finale Thursday.

Yanks' Sabathia looks for more success in Toronto

Stats, LLC

(TSX / STATS) -- TORONTO -- CC Sabathia has endured some struggles this season against the Toronto Blue Jays -- but not at their home park, the Rogers Centre.

The New York Yankees left-hander is 1-1 with a 7.62 ERA against the Blue Jays this season in three starts.

He will face Toronto again Tuesday night in the opener for a three-game series at the Rogers Centre.

In his only start in Toronto this season on June 1, Sabathia allowed one run on five hits while striking out seven over 6 1/3 innings to earn the win.

He is 8-2 with a 2.80 ERA in 13 career starts at the Rogers Centre. In his career against the Blue Jays, he is 16-10 with a 3.61 ERA in 29 starts.

Blue Jays first baseman Justin Smoak is 7-for-23 (.304) with two home runs and five RBIs in his career against Sabathia.

Sabathia (9-4, 3.81 ERA) will be facing Blue Jays left-hander J.A. Happ (4-8, 3.92).

Happ has faced the Yankees once this season, allowing one run on four hits while striking out six over six innings in a win on July 4. Sabathia was his opponent in that game, and he yielded four runs in 2 2/3 innings on his return from the disabled list.

In 15 career starts against the Yankees, Happ is 7-2 with a 3.63 ERA, allowing 80 hits in 91 2/3 innings.

Happ struck out 10 over seven innings Wednesday in a 5-1 win over the Chicago White Sox. He is 4-4 with a 3.32 ERA over his past 10 starts.

The teams are going in different directions, even though they are 5-5 in their season series.

The Yankees (59-51) are second in the American League East, three games behind the first-place Boston Red Sox. They are 2 1/2 games up in the race for the first AL wild card.

The Blue Jays (52-59) are last in the AL East, 10 1/2 games removed from first and five games out of the second wild-card spot.

The Yankees acquired two starters recently, left-hander Jaime Garcia and right-hander Sonny Gray. The latter is scheduled to face Toronto on Thursday, his second start for New York since being acquired in a trade with the Oakland Athletics.

Sabathia was pleased by the moves.

"I think it means a lot," Sabathia said, per MLB.com. "Coming into this year not really knowing where we were going to be at the trade deadline, to have them go out and add pieces makes a huge difference for us, especially after last year."

The Blue Jays, meanwhile, dealt left-handed starter Francisco Liriano to the Houston Astros and right-handed reliever Joe Smith to the Cleveland Indians.

The Yankees received a boost when they won their past two games, which earned them a split of a four-game series against the Cleveland Indians.

The Blue Jays, on the other hand, completed a 3-3 road trip Sunday with a devastating 7-6 loss to the Houston Astros. Closer Roberto Osuna blew his third save in eight days, giving up four runs in the ninth inning while showing a reluctance to use his fastball.

"I don't think anything's wrong," Osuna said through an interpreter after the game Sunday. "I'll be honest today: My command wasn't there like I wanted, but I think it's going to come back. I'm going to work hard. My velocity was a little bit down, so I'm going to look into that, but I think it's going to be great."

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said Sunday, "We liked our guy on the mound. He's our closer. Generally, you don't think they're going to score three or four, whatever it is, but it happens. We've done that a few times ourselves."

The blown save was part of an alarming trend. In his past five outings starting with a blown save against the Los Angeles Angels on July 29, Osuna is 0-3 with two saves, three blown saves and an 18.69 ERA. Hitters have a .453 batting average against him in those games and a .500 on-base percentage.

"It's a thing that happens in baseball," Osuna said. "The past 10 days haven't been too great for me, but I've got to work on my stuff. I've got to get better. Against the Angels and White Sox (in a blown save July 31 in Chicago), it was stuff that happened."

Astros rally past Blue Jays

(TSX / STATS) -- HOUSTON -- Facing the specter of a third consecutive series loss and a somber flight to Chicago, the Houston Astros accomplished something on Sunday that appeared wholly improbable given their debilitating injuries and continuing stretch of mediocrity since the All-Star Game break.

Third baseman Alex Bregman drilled a two-run, game-tying triple with two outs in the ninth inning before catcher Juan Centeno followed with a walk-off single to right field as the Astros rallied for an unexpected 7-6 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at Minute Maid Park.

The Astros tallied four runs off Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna (3-3) in their last at-bat. Jose Altuve, Yuli Gurriel and Marwin Gonzalez all singled during a four-batter stretch to load the bases, and Carlos Beltran followed with a run-scoring fielder's choice that cut the deficit to 6-4.

Bregman added his triple to left-center field, his eighth consecutive game with an extra-base hit, scoring Gurriel and the 40-year-old Beltran from first. Centeno lofted a line drive over the outstretched glove of leaping Toronto first baseman Justin Smoak to complete the comeback.

"It's nice to end the homestand on a better note than we've been playing," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. "Obviously just a big win."

The Astros (71-40) appeared down for the count after Smoak capped a stunning four-run rally with a two-out, two-run double to straightaway center field in the seventh inning.

Smoak scored Russell Martin and Josh Donaldson with his hit, which turned around center fielder Jake Marisnick, off right-hander Luke Gregerson. Earlier in the seventh, Norichika Aoki drilled a two-run home run into the home bullpen off Astros starter Mike Fiers for a 4-3 lead.

Right-hander Marcus Stroman pitched into the seventh for the Blue Jays (52-59), allowing three runs (two earned) on 11 hits and two walks with six strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings. He departed just prior to the tying run coming to the plate in the form of Bregman, but Blue Jays right-hander Dominic Leone relieved and got Bregman to fly out to snuff that threat.

"I think I battled all game," Stroman said. "That's an unbelievable lineup over there, 1-9, and Altuve is extremely special. They have a few big bats out, but the guys that have stepped in are unbelievable as well. They put up 11 hits on me, but I was able to execute and get groundball outs when I needed to."

Fiers breezed for a stretch but was hurt by the long ball, allowing a pair of two-run homers, the first a Jose Bautista blast, his 17th, to left field for a 2-0 Blue Jays lead in the third inning.

The Astros rallied for three runs off Stroman in the fifth, with Altuve, Gurriel and Gonzalez recording RBIs. But when Leone put out the fire in the seventh and retired the side in order in the eighth, the Astros looked defeated. The ninth inning was a different story altogether.

"We didn't have the best homestand, we didn't have the homestand that we wanted to but hopefully this gives us a little energy on the road," Bregman said. "We just have to keep doing what we're doing. We're 31 games above .500. There's going to be ups and downs throughout the season, we just need to stay the course ... and keep going out there and competing."

Right-hander Francis Martes (4-1) worked 1 2/3 scoreless innings and earned the victory in relief for the Astros, who claimed the rubber match of the series.

"You don't think they're going to score three or four, but it happens," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "When things get rolling, they don't let you up. It's a deep lineup, they got caught up in it and they got some big hits."

NOTES: Astros RF Josh Reddick was presented the Heart and Hustle Award as the Astros representative for an honor bestowed to a player from each team by the MLB Players Alumni Association. The award recognizes active players who demonstrate a passion for the game and best embody the values, spirit and traditions of the game. ... Blue Jays LF Norichika Aoki made his first start since being acquired from the Astros on July 31 at the non-waiver trade deadline. He finished 1-for-4 with three strikeouts and a go-ahead, two-run homer. ... Astros OF George Springer will make the trip to Chicago with the club and could be reinstated from the 10-day disabled list on Tuesday. Springer was placed on the DL on July 25 with left quad discomfort.

Gurriel, White spark Astros to rout of Blue Jays

(TSX / STATS) -- HOUSTON -- In the event that a three-game offensive slump altered opinions about the Houston Astros' credentials, they burnished their reputation Friday night.

Yuli Gurriel reached base five times, Tyler White had four hits and his second multi-homer game, and the Astros bludgeoned the Toronto Blue Jays 16-7 at Minute Maid Park.

Gurriel finished 3-for-3 with three runs scored and three RBIs. He clubbed his 14th home run, finished a triple shy of the cycle, and added two walks for his first career multi-walk game.

White, recalled from Triple-A Fresno on July 23, finished 4-for-5 with five RBIs and added a double and a single. His homers were his first of the season with Houston (70-39).

Josh Reddick also had a three-hit game as the Astros banged out 18 hits -- 10 for extra bases. Marwin Gonzalez hit his 20th home run and Alex Bregman belted his 13th. The Astros scored seven runs while dropping the final three games of their series with the Tampa Bay Rays.

"First and foremost, we have a really good offense," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. "I think sometimes we've been so good for so long we get a little bit ahead of ourselves when we get shut down. I don't want the narrative to get out there that we're not a good team, not a good offense."

Toronto (51-58) didn't lag in the power department, slugging three homers off Astros starter Brad Peacock (10-1), who entered the game having given up just two home runs all season.

While Kendrys Morales smacked his 21st home run in the fourth inning, Russell Martin his 12th dinger in the fifth and Ryan Goins his fifth homer in the sixth, Peacock was buoyed by ample run support and took over the staff lead in victories.

Peacock allowed seven runs, four after the Astros' nine-run outburst, and nine hits with two walks and six strikeouts in six innings.

"They are, if not the best in baseball, one of the best," Goins said. "They have power, they can run, there's not an easy out, one through nine.

"They got a couple guys filling in today, and they still put up 16 runs, missing 1, 2, 3 in their lineup. If they're not the best in baseball, they're one of the best, that's for sure."

Gurriel almost single-handedly put the Astros in position for their eruption in the fourth inning. He was 2-for-2 with three RBIs by the close of the third inning, driving in all three Houston runs with his home run in the first inning and an RBI single with two outs in the third.

Gurriel did that damage against Blue Jays starter Cesar Valdez (1-1), but Valdez wasn't around when Gurriel walked with two outs in the fourth. By then, the Astros had stretched their lead to 7-2, and Gonzalez followed the Gurriel walk with home run, a three-run shot to right field.

Houston tacked on two more RBI singles in that inning, with White and Jake Marisnick adding to the deluge. By the close of the inning, six different Astros had RBIs against three pitchers.

"It was a good night," White said. "Everyone was hitting tonight. It was contagious that one inning. We scored nine, and most of them (seven runs) with two outs. We went out there and tried to see good pitches and put good swings on a couple good pitches."

Said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons of the Astros, who were without All-Stars Jose Altuve (rest), Carlos Correa (thumb) and George Springer (quad): "They can do that. They're missing three of their top dogs, too. Great hitting park, and we didn't pitch particularly well."

NOTES: Blue Jays RHP Danny Barnes was reinstated from the 10-day disabled list after missing 10 games with a right shoulder impingement. The Blue Jays also recalled C Raffy Lopez from Triple-A Buffalo, where he hit .293 with 12 home runs and 34 RBIs in 59 games. Barnes and Lopez filled the roster spots of RHP Joe Biagini, who was optioned to Buffalo, and C Miguel Montero, who landed on the DL with a right groin strain. ... The Astros recalled RHP James Hoyt from Triple-A Fresno. ... Astros OF George Springer took the day off rehabbing his left quad strain. Springer will intensify workouts starting Saturday and, with the Astros off Monday, could be reinstated from the 10-day disabled list on Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox.