TORONTO – Rajai Davis singled in the winning run with two out in the 18th inning as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Texas Rangers 4-3 on Saturday after letting a two-run lead slip away in the ninth.
Emilio Bonifacio singled with one out against Ross Wolf (1-1) who was pitching in his seventh inning. Ross threw wildly to first on a pickoff attempt with two out and Bonifacio reached third base and Davis singled past third base to end the game.
The 18 innings equalled the Blue Jays’ club record – they played 18 against the Los Angeles Angels on July 28, 2005.
It was the fifth time the Rangers had gone 18 innings.
Left-hander Aaron Loup (3-3) entered the game in the 18th and survived a leadoff double to pick up the win.
The Blue Jays could not push across the winning run in the 15th. Wolf issued a leadoff walk to Adam Lind who had four hits in the game. He took third on a single by J.P. Arencibia.
Colby Rasmus who had two runs batted in with a third-inning triple fouled out. Maicer Izturis forced Arencibia at second with a grounder and Bonifacio lined out to first.
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Jeff Baker who homered in the seventh hit a one-out double against right-hander Brad Lincoln in the top of the 15th and Leonys Martin was hit by a pitch. But the runners got no further than second and third.
The victory before a crowd of 44,079 at Rogers Centre gave the Blue Jays (27-34) their third win in a row while the Rangers (36-25) have lost three in a row.
The Rangers had a threat in the 10th when they loaded the bases with none out but it ended on a double play on a thwarted sacrifice fly attempt.
Blue Jays’ right-hander Dustin McGowan, who was making his first major-league appearance since Sept. 26, 2011 after being called up from a rehabilitation assignment at triple-A Buffalo, started the 10th by walking Lance Berkman. Third baseman Mark DeRosa who entered the game as a pinch hitter in the ninth committed an error on Adrian Beltre’s grounder and McGowan hit Nelson Cruz with a pitch to load the bases.
McGowan struck out Baker before being replaced by left-hander Juan Perez. Leonys Martin hit a fly out to right field. Berkman tagged up and tried to score but Jose Bautista threw him out at the plate to end the inning.
Left-hander Mark Buehrle held the Rangers to four hits including Baker’s homer stood to win after leaving the game after seven innings with a 3-1 lead.
But Casey Janssen blew a save opportunity for the first time in 13 opportunities in the ninth.
Three consecutive pinch hitters came through for the Rangers – Martin singled with one out, David Murphy walked and A.J. Pierzynski flared a single to right to score one run.
Elvis Andrus tied the game with a sacrifice fly.
Rangers’ right-hander Yu Darvish allowed five hits, three walks and three runs (two earned) while striking out seven in seven innings and is winless in his past four starts.
The Blue Jays took a 3-0 lead in the third inning when Rasmus hit a two-run triple to right centre on a hanging slider and continued home on a throwing error on the relay by second baseman Jurickson Profar.
The two-out hit by Rasmus followed a one-out walk to Edwin Encarnacion and a single by Lind.
Baker put the Rangers on the board with his eighth homer of the season.
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