Blue Jays notebook: Donaldson's bat, Tepesch's arm combine for Toronto victory

Rudi Schuller

Blue Jays notebook: Donaldson's bat, Tepesch's arm combine for Toronto victory image

You can forgive fans if they thought they would be treated to a slugfest Monday night at the Rogers Centre.

When Josh Donaldson hit a first-inning two-run home run — again — and Wilson Ramos followed suit with a solo shot in the top of the second, it appeared as though the bats would rule the day.

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That was most definitely not the case, however, and those two blasts represented all the scoring in what was ultimately a 2-1 win for the Jays over the Tampa Bay Rays.

So it wasn't a banner day on the offensive side, but Toronto got some solid pitching from all three men who took the mound. It all added up to a nervy-but-professional third-straight victory for the Jays.

Early bird gets the HRs

Donaldson continued his first-inning brilliance with another home run in his first at-bat.

The third baseman has gotten off to great starts recently — with nine of his 17 homers this year coming in the first inning of games — and it continued Monday with a two-run blast to give Toronto the early lead.

Donaldson's early heroics have given the Jays a leg up in recent days, including Sunday's 7-1 win over the Pirates when he also hit a two-run homer in his first trip to the plate. 

Tepesch gives Toronto a chance

While Donaldson's bat put the Blue Jays in front, it was the pitching of newcomer Nick Tepesch that kept Toronto ahead.

The pitcher, who only joined the Jays late last month, had a superb first six innings as the offence went cold following Donaldson's early blast. Tepesch's performance on the mound kept the Rays from grabbing a lead despite a lack of run support.

As good as his first six innings were, Tepesch got into trouble in the top of the seventh, hitting a batter (at 0-2) and walking the next in four pitches. He was replaced by Aaron Loup with no outs, and the reliever worked his way out of the jam unscathed.

Loup got through 1.2 innings before the ball was turned over to Roberto Osuna for a textbook save. 

Rudi Schuller