Things worth mentioning…

• The first game was a rollercoaster. The Jays jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, but then Jaime Garcia imploded in the fourth inning and Cleveland put up seven runs. Garcia got pulled from the game, meaning the Jays were going to their ‘pen just three-and-a-third innings into their doubleheader. Uh oh! The bats, fortunately, were able to battle back, as Josh Donaldson, in his triumphant return from the disabled list, smacked a homer to tie the game at 7-7. The Jays went ahead 9-7, but a homer and some poor defensive play resulted in Cleveland tying the game at 9-9. Then, finally, in the 11th, Yangervis Solarte smashed a grand slam, putting the Jays ahead for good. Theeeeeeen half-and-hour later the two teams played again but it wasn’t as fun. Cleveland smacked Joe Biagini and Luis Santos around for a 13-4 win. But we don’t have to talk much about that one.
• Yangervis Solarte was the star of the day. He tripped and skilled into third base and it looked like he was going to have to exit the game but, instead, he ended up going 8-for-10 with seven RBIs over the two games. What?!?!?! Seriously! He had an RBI single early in the first game, the go-ahead slam, and then he opened the scoring with a solo bomb in the second game. Have yourself a day.

• Josh Donaldson had himself a nice return from the DL. In the first game, he went 3-for-7 with three RBIs, including a two run bomb, then, in the second game, he made it rain again with a solo homer. As impressive as a lot of guys, like Solarte, looked without Donaldson, it’s huuuuuuge to get his bat back in the lineup.
• There wasn’t really much good from the second game to talk about. Biagini struggled, Santos, fresh up from Triple-A, got absolutely pounded and now sports a 32.40 ERA for the season, and Carlos Ramirez came in and had some command issues. The one thing worth mentioning, though, was Dwight Smith Jr. who was recalled prior to the doubleheader in a flurry of roster moves. Smith, who’s often overlooked because of guys like Teoscar Hernandez, Anthony Alford, and Dalton Pompey, had a very good day at the plate, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a double. He now has 12 hits in 31 Major League at bats.
• Boy, did the pitchers get taxed today. In the first game, the ‘pen had to toss seven-and-two-thirds innings. They did an excellent job, allowing just four runs. Two of those were on Roberto Osuna who had a less-than-stellar outing, one was on Danny Barnes, and another was on Ryan Tepera. John Axford had a hell of an effort, going two-and-a-third innings to make up for Garcia’s bad start, which was huge.
• All in all, that was a successful day. The second game sucked but it seemed sort of inevitable after the rollercoaster that was the first game. The Jays showed a lot of swagger coming back and winning that game after blowing a couple of leads. They navigated a bad start from Garcia, a blown 5-0 early lead, and a blown two-run lead late and still came through with the win. That’s the good shit.