TORONTO – Jose Bautista hit a grand slam in the second inning and the Toronto Blue Jays held on for a 9-7 win over the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday.
Josh Donaldson and Edwin Encarnacion also hit home runs for Toronto (57-52), which has won four straight to strengthen its hold on the second wild card in the American League and keep pace with the AL East-leading New York Yankees.
The Blue Jays have homered in 17 of 18 games since the all-star break and have hit multiple home runs in 10 of those games.
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Drew Hutchison (10-2) struck out five over five innings of work but gave up seven runs – three of them earned – on seven hits. Liam Hendriks, Brett Cecil and Mark Lowe pitched a scoreless inning of relief each before LaTroy Hawkins came in to earn his first save with Toronto.
Designated hitter Miguel Sano had two hits and three runs batted in for Minnesota (54-53), which has dropped three games in a row. Tyler Duffey (0-1) struggled in his Major League debut, giving up six runs on five hits in just two innings of work. Five relievers came in for the Twins after Duffey was pulled from the mound.
Donaldson made an impressive catch in the first inning, stabbing a line drive by Brian Dozier out of the air for the first out of the game.
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