Bringer of Rain isn’t stitched on Josh Donaldson’s jersey for no apparent reason.
Minnesota Twins pitcher Dillon Gee found out why the Jays third baseman chose to don that nickname for MLB’s Player Weekend as Toronto defeated the Twins 10-9 on Saturday.
After the Twins finally tagged a dominant Marco Estrada for two runs in the top half of the fifth inning to tie the game at 2-2, Donaldson continued his recent trend of success.
Facing an 0-1 count in the bottom of the inning, he sent a Gee offering into the stands for his 23rd homer of the season, igniting an offensive eruption.
Josh Donaldson hits a 2-run home run for his 23rd home run of the season!!! #LetsRise pic.twitter.com/SqNQ3CkoEC
— TheRenderMLB (@TheRenderMLB_) August 26, 2017
Minnesota replaced Gee, but the move failed to limit the damage. The Jays scored four more runs and kept the lead throughout the rest of the game, though the Twins did threaten.
What Toronto fans have learned this season is to be leery of any lead their team may hold. The Jays bullpen holds a combined earned run average of 4.29 and is one of the most worked pens in all of baseball at 461.1 innings — the third most in the MLB. It reared its ugly ahead again Saturday.
Max Kepler cut the deficit to one run when he hit his second grand slam of the year -- this one off reliever Ryan Tepera -- to make it an 8-7 game in the eighth. The Jays struck back to lead 10-7 headed into the ninth. Fortunately, with runners in scoring position and no outs, Robert Osuna avoided a blown save by eventually getting Joe Mauer to hit into a game-ending double play for his 34th save of the season.