San Diego, CA – Mark DeRosa's solo homer in the top of the 11th inning provided the Toronto Blue Jays with the go-ahead run in their 7-4 victory over the San Diego Padres on Sunday at Petco Park.
DeRosa entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the eighth and his second hit of the day sailed over the left-field wall to start the final frame. The Blue Jays then tacked on two more runs with the help of a throwing error on Chase Headley and an RBI double from Jose Bautista.
Brad Boxberger (0-1), recalled from Triple-A Tucson prior to the game, was the seventh pitcher used by the Padres and was charged with three runs on five hits in just an inning of work.
Casey Janssen (1-0) tossed a scoreless 10th inning and Aaron Loup notched the save to complete an excellent effort by the Toronto bullpen, which picked up injured starter Ramon Ortiz by combining for nine innings of two-hit ball.
Most of San Diego's offense came off the bat of starting pitcher Edinson Volquez, who clubbed his first career home run with a three-run shot. However, the righty gave up four runs on six hits and three walks over five frames on the hill.
The Blue Jays tacked on a few insurance runs after Derosa's homer to secure the win and salvage the final contest of this three-game set.
Emilio Bonifacio followed with a single, swiped second base and then came around to score when Headley committed a throwing error on pinch-hitter Anthony Gose's bunt down the third-base line.
Bautista then tagged Boxberger for a double into right field to plate Gose and give Toronto a commanding 7-4 lead. The Padres provided no resistance, as Loup set them down in order in the bottom of the 11th.
The Blue Jays jumped out to the early lead on Colby Rasmus' RBI double in the top of the second, but Jedd Gyorko countered with one of his own in the bottom half to knot the score at 1-1.
Ortiz then intentionally walked Will Venable to bring up Volquez, but that proved to be a mistake as the right-handed hurler lifted a first-pitch fastball over the left-field wall for a three-run homer.
Ortiz eventually got through the inning, but had to exit soon after. While throwing a pitch to Headley in the bottom of the third, his left knee appeared to buckle and he came up clutching his right elbow.
A frustrated and clearly upset Ortiz threw his glove into the mound with his left hand while a team trainer checked out his pitching elbow. Ortiz appeared to be crying while he was headed for the dugout.
The Blue Jays, though, rallied to knot the score at 4-4 by the fifth. Edwin Encarnacion's homer in the top of the third brought them within two and two innings later, Adam Lind pulled the Jays even when he lifted a two-out double into center to plate a pair of runs.
Game Notes
The Padres were 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position and Toronto was 4- for-14 with RISP ... San Diego's Yonder Alonso sat for the second straight game after taking a pitch on the hand on Friday ... The start of Sunday's game occurred at 7:10 p.m. local time because of The Rock 'n' Roll Marathon and a post-race concert by The Psychedelic Furs at the stadium ... Encarnacion's homer was his 16th of the season.
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