Salisbury's Instant Replay: Jays 6, Phils 5
BOX SCORE TORONTO – The Phillies suffered their latest ugly loss of the season Saturday afternoon when the Toronto Blue Jays rallied for a 6-5 win in 10 innings.
Rajai Davis drove in Yunel Escobar from third with a booming hit to left-center off Joe Savery to win it for the Jays. Savery walked Escobar to open the frame and then balked him to second.
Davis' hit came with two outs on an 0-2 pitch.
Cliff Lee appeared to be on his way to his first win of the season when he blew a three-run lead in the eighth. Jimmy Rollins made a costly error to help fuel the Jays’ game-tying rally.
This was the eighth time the Phillies have suffered a walk-off loss on the road this season. They are 2-7 in extra innings.
Lee has blown leads in his last three starts, including three-run leads in his last two.
The Phils are 31-36.
Starting pitching reportLee entered the eighth with a 5-2 lead. He did not retire any of the three batters he faced in the inning as the Jays started a game-tying three-run rally. Lee tied a career-high by allowing 12 hits. He remains winless since Sept. 26.
Lee also lost an eighth-inning lead in Toronto last season when he gave up three solo home runs in the frame on July 3.
Toronto lefty Ricky Romero allowed seven hits, including a three-run homer to John Mayberry Jr., and four runs over six innings.
Bullpen reportChad Qualls gave up a game-tying RBI double in the eighth. Qualls has allowed nine of 15 inherited runners to score this season.
Michael Schwimer preserved the tie in the ninth.
At the plateMayberry’s three-run homer was his second in four days. It came in the third inning and gave the Phils a 4-1 lead. Rollins doubled home a run in the top of the eighth to give the Phils a 5-2 lead.
J.P. Arencibia capped the Jays’ game-tying rally in the eighth with an RBI double down the left-field line against Qualls.
Escobar homered for the Jays.
In the fieldThe Phils have made 14 errors in their last 10 games.
Rehab roadChase Utley played five innings in the field in a minor-league intrasquad game in Clearwater on Saturday. He has now played nine innings in two days, his first real defensive action since October. Ryan Howard homered in that game and did fielding and baserunning drills afterward. Laynce Nix, recovering from a calf strain, played three innings at first base in the game and had two hits.
Health checkCarlos Ruiz does not believe he will require time on the disabled list. He believes the pain he felt in his left side Friday night was a cramp. The team will get him checked out nonetheless
(see story).
Up nextKyle Kendrick (2-6, 5.08) opposes lefty Brett Cecil in the series finale Sunday afternoon. Cecil will make his season debut.
E-mail Jim Salisbury at jsalisbury@comcastsportsnet.com
