Phoenix, AZ – Esmil Rogers struck out five and surrendered just one hit in 6 1/3 innings to help the Toronto Blue Jays take down the Arizona Diamondbacks, 4-1, in the series opener from Chase Field.
Rogers (4-7) was pulled with one out in the seventh despite throwing just 83 pitches. Sergio Santos pitched around a walk to finish the seventh, Steve Delabar needed just six pitches to get through the eighth and Aaron Loup gave up a run in the ninth before Casey Janssen came in and picked up his 27th save.
"Great outing. We have seen that before this year," said Toronto manager John Gibbons about Rogers. "He's had some really good ones before, just like that. He did a heck of a job for us tonight, he really did."
Brandon McCarthy (3-9) went the distance for Arizona, allowing four runs on five hits to absorb the loss, his sixth in his last seven decisions.
"We just didn't hit," said D'Backs manager Kirk Gibson. "9 out of 11 first pitches put in play were ground balls. Didn't make an adjustment and obviously he (Rogers) was throwing the ball well in the zone."
Toronto went up 2-0 in the second inning, when Moises Sierra sparked a rally with a one-out double to center. After Josh Thole grounded out, Kevin Pillar and Anthony Gose delivered back-to-back RBI hits.
McCarthy was terrific after that, holding Toronto hitless until the ninth inning. The D'Backs' right-hander retired 16 straight after hitting Edwin Encarnacion in the arm with two away in the third before Ryan Goins reached with a single to left to begin the ninth. Encarnacion followed with his 35th home run of the season, giving the Jays a 4-0 cushion.
Loup started the ninth on the hill for Toronto but saw just two batters after Cliff Pennington doubled down the left field line and pinch-hitter Willie Bloomquist followed with an RBI-single to center. Janssen relieved Loup and walked A.J. Pollock to bring the tying run to the plate before settling down and retiring the side to end the game.
Game Notes
Encarnacion became the fourth Toronto player ever to record consecutive seasons of at least 35 home runs and 100 RBI, joining Carlos Delgado, Jose Bautista and Shawn Green ... Janssen tied Kelvim Escobar for fifth on the Blue Jays all-time saves list with 58 ... The D'Backs had won eight straight interleague games at home ... McCarthy did not issue a walk for his second straight start and seventh time this season ... Martin Prado has now reached safely in 18 of 19 games and extended his hitting streak to nine games.
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