Carrera hits walk-off homer to power Jays

March 23rd, 2016
Ezequiel Carrera runs down Dilson Herrera's fly ball in the sixth inning. (AP)

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Aaron Sanchez and Bartolo Colon both turned in shutout performances, but it was Ezequiel Carrera who stole the show in the end, as he slugged a three-run walk-off homer off reliever Buddy Carlyle in the ninth inning to give the Blue Jays a 3-1 victory on Wednesday afternoon at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium.
Patrick Biondi hit a two-out homer in the ninth off Roberto Osuna to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. Biondi, who was selected in the ninth round of the 2013 Draft after playing at the University of Michigan, has never played above Class A ball and has just five homers in 926 Minor League at-bats.
Blue Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki left the game in the fourth inning after Colon hit him by a pitch. There was no immediate word as to the severity of any injury.
Colon cruised through his six innings, allowing nothing more than Tulowitzki's hit-by-pitch and three singles. Colon put men on the corners with one out in the sixth, but he induced a groundout and struck out Chris Colabello to escape the jam. Colon fanned six in total, walking no one.

Sanchez didn't even face that much trouble, cruising through 6 1/3 shutout innings to drop his Grapefruit League ERA to 1.35. He struck out four, scattering four hits without a walk to receive a standing ovation as he walked off the mound.
Up next for the Mets: The Mets will split up for the final time this spring on Thursday, with split squads playing on either side of Florida. Matt Harvey leads the home half against Dallas Keuchel and the Astros in a 1:10 p.m. ET game at Tradition Field that will air on MLB.TV. In Fort Myers, Logan Verrett will start against Joe Kelly and the Red Sox in a 1:05 p.m. game.
Up next for the Blue Jays: Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey will take the mound when the Blue Jays host the Tigers at 1:07 p.m. on Thursday afternoon at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium. Dickey is expected to throw approximately five innings in a game available via an exclusive webcast, and he will be followed by right-handers Arnold Leon, Ryan Tepera, David Aardsma and switch-pitcher Pat Venditte.