Blue Jays walk off on Lawrie's homer
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Brett Lawrie lined Mike Adams' full-count slider over the wall in left-center field in the bottom of the ninth inning to break a tie and give the Toronto Blue Jays an 8-7 victory over the Texas Rangers.
"I was just locked in," said Lawrie. "Those are the [at-bats] that you get pumped up for, and you've just got to be ready to go."
Kelly Johnson and Jose Bautista hit back-to-back homers to help Toronto climb out of an early 5-0 hole and Johnson finished with four runs batted in for the Blue Jays, who have won three of four and knotted this three-game set.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Francisco Cordero (1-1) allowed a run in the ninth to record his second blown save of the season but got the win.
Ian Kinsler knocked in three runs and scored twice in the losing effort.
Cordero got two quick outs in the top of the ninth, but singles to Kinsler and Elvis Andrus put runners on the corners. Michael Young then roped a single to center to tie it at 7-7.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}But Cordero escaped without further damage, setting up Lawrie's heroics against Adams (0-1) leading off the bottom of the ninth with a homer that hit the top of the wall and caromed over it.
"It's part of the game. You have good days and bad days," said Andrus. "That's the game of baseball, you never know what's going to happen."
Blue Jays starter Drew Hutchison struck out the first four batters he faced, but then got into trouble. Mike Napoli hit a one-out single after David Murphy worked a walk, and then Mitch Moreland singled to load the bases.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Alberto Gonzalez plated the first run with a base hit, and Napoli scored when Craig Gentry beat out the throw to first on a potential inning-ending double play.
Gentry then stole second before scoring on Kinsler's two-run double down the right-field line. Kinsler scored on Andrus' single up the middle before Hutchison finally got Young to line out, ending the five-run outburst.
Toronto pulled within one on a pair of two-out homers in the third. After back-to-back free passes to Cody Rasmus and Jeff Mathis, Johnson bounced Texas starter Neftali Feliz's first offering off the top of the left-field wall and over for his fifth shot of the season.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bautista followed with a rocket into Rogers Centre's second deck.
Texas pushed its edge back to two a half-inning later, when Kinsler hit into a fielder's choice that allowed Gonzalez to cross the plate. Gonzalez had singled and moved to third on Yunel Escobar's errant attempt to throw out Gentry.
A three-run home seventh gave the Jays their first lead of the night. An error and a pair of singles loaded the bases with no outs, allowing Mathis to bring home the first run on a fielder's choice. Escobar's groundout scored Lawrie before Johnson smacked a hit up the middle, plating Mathis for a 7-6 Toronto advantage.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Game Notes
Feliz allowed four runs on four hits and six walks with four strikeouts over five-plus innings...Hutchison gave up six runs (five earned) on seven hits and two walks while fanning five...Blue Jays shortstop Omar Vizquel was ejected by home plate umpire Sam Holbrook in the fifth...The probables for Wednesday's finale are Matt Harrison (3-1) for the Rangers against Ricky Romero (3-0)...Texas outfielder Josh Hamilton (back) missed his second straight game.