Smoak, Tulowitzki force extras in Texas

Blue Jays show late fight with back-to-back homers in 9th

May 15th, 2016

ARLINGTON -- For the second time in three games, the Blue Jays rallied in the ninth to force extra innings but again fell just short. Justin Smoak and Troy Tulowitzki helped Toronto overcome a three-run deficit in the ninth with back-to-back home runs off Rangers closer Shawn Tolleson.
In the end, it was all for naught as the Blue Jays lost, 6-5.
Toronto reliever Gavin Floyd surrendered a walk-off homer to Drew Stubbs in the 10th inning as the game quickly came to an end. Even so, the Blue Jays took the positives from another late-inning comeback as the offense has shown signs of life.
"Our guys have some fight," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "They keep battling back, got some big hits late. It's tough sometimes, tying on the road. Most times you have to take the lead because they have the last at-bat. But we battled like we always do."
The good news for the Blue Jays is that the home run stroke has started to return. In addition to home runs by Smoak and Tulowitzki, Ryan Goins hit a solo shot in the third inning. Toronto has homered in five consecutive games with a total of eight over that span.

The bad news is that the club managed to score just two runs over seven innings against Rangers starter Colby Lewis, who entered the game with a career 6.60 ERA in 12 career appearances vs. Toronto. Clearly, there are still some kinks that need to be worked out before this team can get fully on track.
"We battled back, I mean, they're a good ballclub over there," said Smoak, who has been one of the recent top performers on offense. "To battle back, tip your cap to Colby Lewis, the guy pitched well tonight, we tied it there late and just couldn't hold on for the win."
Toronto has scored more than five runs just once this month, and even though right-hander Marco Estrada surrendered five runs -- four earned -- Saturday night, he has been limited to one win this season because the Blue Jays scored a total of 12 runs in his first six starts.
The Blue Jays are averaging 4.08 runs per game this season. At this point last year, the club was averaging 5.21.
"With those guys, you expect them to be unbelievable every day, it's just what you expect," Smoak said of the heart of the team's order. "Those guys, it can be one at-bat, one pitch, one swing and they're locked in for a month. All of us know it can be any time now, it's good to see tonight and last night, hopefully we keep it going."