Blue Jays 7, White Sox 5
CHICAGO - The crowd stood and cheered as the anticipation of a fourth straight win by the Chicago White Sox built all around U.S. Cellular Field on Tuesday night.
There were two outs in the ninth inning of a game against the Toronto Blue Jays and White Sox closer Addison Reed had a 1-2 count on Jose Bautista. Things looked good for the home team, but one pitch changed everything in what turned out to be a 7-5 Blue Jays win in 10 innings.
Bautista turned on an offering from Reed and drove the ball over the fence in left 390 feet away for a game-tying home run that left the home crowd stunned.
Brett Cecil retired the Sox in order in the ninth and the Blue Jays then scored twice in the 10th off Chicago reliever Ramon Troncoso. Rajai Davis scored from third on a wild pitch for the go-ahead run and Maicer Izturis scored from first on Munenori Kawasaki's double - after Sox catcher Tyler Flowers dropped the ball on the tag attempt.
Casey Janssen pitched a scoreless ninth to close it out, but not before putting two runners aboard and bringing hot-hitting Adam Dunn to the plate as the potential game-winning run. Instead, Janssen got Dunn to ground out - ending an entertaining game.
Edwin Encarnacion, who went 2-for-4, also hit a two-run homer for the Blue Jays (28-36) in the fifth off Chicago starter Jose Quintana, with the blast making a three-run deficit a 5-4 Sox lead. That's the way it stayed until Bautista's dramatic long ball in the ninth, his 15th of the season.
Toronto started Chien-Ming Wang (0-0), whom they officially signed to a contract before the game. Wang, who recently opted out of a minor league contract with the New York Yankees, went 7 1/3 innings and allowed five runs - with three coming on a Conor Gillaspie home run in the four-run White Sox fourth.
Bautista's blast took Wang off the hook for the loss and rewarded the veteran right-hander for escaping a bases-loaded, no out jam in the fifth. Wang settled into a rhythm after that point and retired eight of the next nine hitters before leaving in the eighth.
Dunn also homered for Chicago (28-35), which was his fourth in as many games. Quintana went 6 1/3 innings for the White Sox, who were close to winning a fourth straight game for just the second time all season and first time since mid-May.
Aided by Alexei Ramirez's error and a passed ball by White Sox catcher Tyler Flowers, the Blue Jays struck first. Toronto took a 2-0 lead in the second with two unearned runs.
Dunn cut the lead in half in the White Sox's second with a solo home run that was his fourth in the last four games.
Gillaspie's three-run homer to right field highlighted the four-run fourth for the Sox, who led 5-2 and continued to come up with key hits in key situations for the fourth straight game.
The Jays got two runs back on Encarnacion's 18th homer of the season in the fifth, slicing Chicago's edge to 5-4.
NOTES: White Sox OF Dewayne Wise tested his injured hamstring by doing on-field running before the game and reported no issues. Chicago manager Robin Ventura said it's possible that Wise would be sent to Triple-A Charlotte on a rehab assignment in the next few days. ... The Sox removed LHP Leyson Septimo from the 60-day disabled list and outrighted him to Triple-A Charlotte, which leaves Chicago with 39 players on the 40-man roster. ... The Blue Jays are inching closer to getting SS Jose Reyes back from a severely sprained left ankle. Reyes, who's been out since April 13, is headed to the team's spring training facility in Florida on Wednesday to begin simulated games. He'll eventually go on a minor league rehab stint of undetermined length. There's a chance Reyes could return before the end of June if all goes well. ... Wang was officially added to Toronto's roster before Tuesday's game, and INF Andy Laroche was designated for assignment. Also, C Henry Blanco was released by the Blue Jays after being designated for assignment June 7. ... Blue Jays manager John Gibbons returned to the bench after a one-game absence while he attended his son's high school graduation.
