Atlanta Braves fall to Toronto Blue Jays in 10 innings

TORONTO — When the Toronto Blue Jays traded for Josh Donaldson last fall, they did not envision the slugger batting second in the order.

But because of injuries, that’s where the former Oakland A’s third baseman has been lately and it paid off big time on Saturday.

Donaldson led off the 10th inning by smashing a 1-0 changeup from Atlanta Braves reliever Sugar Ray Marimon into the left-field bleachers to give the Jays an improbable 6-5 victory and even the teams’ interleague series at 1-1.

Brett Cecil (1-1) got the victory while Marimon (0-1) took the loss.

“It’s just a position,” Donaldson said when asked about moving from the fifth to second spot. “The two hole, what it allows me to do is get more at-bats in the game. With that being said, it’s also nice having Jose Bautista hitting behind you.”

While Donaldson’s third homer of the year and fourth career walk-off home run was the deciding blow, Bautista played his part in Toronto’s come-from-behind win. After the Jays spotted the Braves a 4-0 lead, he put the Jays ahead briefly in the eighth with a monster two-run blast to left.

“These guys can swing the bat,” said Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez. “You make a mistake or put it over the plate and they hit it out of the ballpark. They just kept at us.”

For most of the game, it was Atlanta that kept on the Jays, in particular Jays starter R.A. Dickey.

They jumped on the knuckleballer early, using two walks, a hit and a sacrifice fly by Chris Johnson to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.

That grew to 3-0 in the third as Dickey continued to have trouble with his control. After a two-out walk to Nick Markakis, Atlanta’s Freddie Freeman deposited a knuckler into the center-field bleachers for his fourth HR of the season and a 3-0 lead.

When A.J. Pierzynski led off the next inning with a first-pitch homer, his third of the year, the Braves jumped ahead 4-0.

Meanwhile, Atlanta starter Alex Wood was on cruise control, inducing ground balls that were turned into outs by his outstanding defense. But it all started to unravel for the lefthander in the seventh.

Third baseman Danny Valencia, who had four hits on the day, stroked a one-out double to deep center field and catcher Russell Martin brought him home with a hard-hit single to right. The Jays came within two runs when shortstop Steve Tolleson slammed a triple to right center that brought in Martin.

When rookie outfielder Dalton Pompey legged out an infield single to score Tolleson and bring the Jays within one, Gonzalez went to his bullpen. Reliever Brandon Cunniff got a spectacular diving catch from shortstop Andrelton Simmons to end the inning with the Braves clinging to a 4-3 lead.

Things got worse for the Braves in the eighth.

Donaldson led by hitting a single to left off reliever Jim Johnson. That set the stage for Bautista’s blast, his third of the year, which gave the Jays the lead.

That lead was short-lived, as Atlanta outfielder Kelly Johnson greeted closer Miguel Castro with a leadoff homer to center that tied the game at 5-5. It was his second of the season and was the first earned run charged to the rookie reliever.

That set the stage for Donaldson’s moment.

The Braves took the loss in stride despite blowing a big lead.

“A loss is a loss,” said Freeman. “It’s early. We swung the bats well, we pitched well, we battled and kept coming back. Kelly hit a huge home run to keep us in it. Overall, it was a good game. They just came out on top.”

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons saw the win as something more significant than that.

“That was a big win for us, it really was,” he said. “We’ve had some opportunities this year to make a run late, walk-off type thing. We’ve been in a position to do it, but just couldn’t come through.

“We definitely needed that. I don’t care what time of year it is.”