Today in Blue Jays History: Saunders hits 3 home runs

Four Years Ago

Actually four years ago yesterday, but there was a fair bit of stuff going on yesterday, and I didn’t get to this.

The Blue Jays beat the Orioles 13-3.We hit 5 home runs that day, three of them were by Michael Saunders (bringing him to 15 on the season). Josh Donaldson hit one (his 17th), and Justin Smoak had the other (his 7th).

Orioles starter Mike Wright had said some stuff about Edwin Encarnacion the week before that game:“He’s really good but he’s also got holes,” Orioles starter Mike Wright told Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun following Saturday’s 11-6 loss to the Blue Jays. “There’s a reason he’s batting .240. I think we give him too much credit.”

Edwin had two home runs and a double off Orioles pitching the Saturday before (the double was off Wright), so he was less than happy. Being fair Wright also said Edwin was ‘one of the best hitters I think I’ve faced’.Anyway, Saunders homered in the first inning (3-run shot), the fourth inning (against 3-run), and in the sixth (2-run). He drove in 8 of our 13 runs.

Saunders was having a terrific season. He was hitting .314/.389/.610 after this game. You might remember that he went to the All-Star game that year, and then his season took a sharp downturn. In the first half, he hit .298/.372/.551, in the second .178/.282/.357.I don’t know what caused the downturn; perhaps his knee was bothering him.

On the pitching side, Aaron Sanchez had a good start. 6 innings, 7 hits, 2 earned, 2 walks, and 6 strikeouts. That was his best season when he led the AL in ERA (3.00). After that, he had a mess of injuries and inconsistencies.Jays of the Day were Saunders (.219 WPA), Donaldson (.186) and Smoak (.091).

The win made the Jays record 39-31, which put them 1 game back of the Orioles. We finished the season 89-73, second in the AL East. I’m sure you’ll remember that we beat the Orioles in the Wild Card game.