Blue Jays rally past Twins, 8-7
TORONTO -- Melvin Upton Jr. tripled in the tying run and continued home on an outfield error in the eighth inning as the Toronto Blue Jays came back to defeat the Minnesota Twins 8-7 on Saturday.
Edwin Encarnacion homered and had three RBIs for the Blue Jays who gave the Twins their ninth straight loss.
Reliever Jason Grilli (4-1) pitched around a single in the eighth to pick the win and Ryan Pressly (6-6) took the loss, allowing two runs and five hits in one inning.
Roberto Osuna pitched ad perfect ninth with two strikeouts to earn his 29th save of the season.
Kevin Pillar doubled down the left-field line with one out in the bottom of the eighth.
Upton drove in Pillar and came around to score when right fielder Max Kepler made a diving attempt on his soft liner to right. Upton was given an RBI triple and came home on an error charged to Kepler.
Brian Dozier had three hits and two RBIs, and Trevor Plouffe hit a home run and had two RBIs for the Twins.
Twins starter Ervin Santana allowed five hits, five walks and six runs while striking out four in 6? innings.
Toronto starter Marcus Stroman allowed nine hits, one walk and five runs in six innings. He struck out five.
The Blue Jays (73-56) entered the game with a one-game lead over the Boston Red Sox in the American League East.
The Twins (49-80) scored a run in the first. Dozier led off with a single, stole second, took third on Joe Mauer's fly out to left and scored on a wild pitch.
Minnesota scored four runs in the fourth to take a 5-0 lead.
Plouffe led off with a walk and Eddie Rosario singled. Miguel Sano hit an RBI single, Eduardo Escobar hit an RBI double and Dozier stroked a two-run double down the left-field line.
Toronto scored in the bottom of the fourth when Encarnacion walked and Michael Saunders doubled.
Josh Donaldson walked with one out in the sixth and scored on Encarnacion's 36th home runs of the season, cutting the Twins' lead to 5-3.
Bo Schultz allowed a walk and Plouffe's ninth home run of the season in the seventh as the Twins bumped their lead to 7-3.
The Blue Jays scored three in the bottom of the seventh to trim the lead to 7-6.
Pillar led off with a single and was forced at second by Upton. Devon Travis walked and, after Josh Thole grounded out to first, Santana walked Jose Bautista to load the bases.
Pressly replaced Santana and allowed Donaldson's two-run single and Encarnacion's RBI single.
NOTES: Toronto 2B Devon Travis (sore right ring finger) returned to the lineup Saturday. He missed four games after receiving a cortisone injection in the finger on Tuesday. ... Twins 1B Joe Mauer (quadriceps) returned to the lineup after missing three games because of leg soreness. ... Blue Jays C Josh Thole started with regular C Russell Martin on the bench. ... Toronto OF Michael Saunders (tight hamstring) started in right field after missing two games after he tweaked his hamstring Wednesday. RF Jose Bautista started as the designated hitter. ... Minnesota RHP Kyle Gibson (5-8, 5.09 ERA) faces Toronto RHP R.A. Dickey (9-13, 4.43 ERA) in the series finale Sunday. ... The Blue Jays designated LHP Aaron Loup for assignment and recalled RHP Bo Schultz on Saturday.