Jose Reyes, Chad Jenkins Lead Blue Jays in 19 Innings; Devin Mesoraco's Grand Slam, Two-Run Homer Lifts Reds

Players of the Day for Sunday, August 10, 2014

American League

Jose Reyes

Chad Jenkins

It took the Blue Jays over six-and-a-half hours, 22 players and 19 innings, but they eventually beat the Tigers, 6-5, taking the series two games to one, and back into second place in the AL East.

With the bases loaded in the bottom of the 19th, Jose Bautista lashed a single down the right field line to bring home Munenori Kawasaki with the walk-off, game winner. It was Bautista's only hit of the game (1-for-8), made possible by Jose Reyes, who went 4-for-9 and was on second base when Bautista delivered the victory blow.

Of Reyes' four singles, one came in the seventh, making the score, 5-3, in favor of Detroit; another was in the bottom of the ninth and drove in Anthony Gose to tie the game at 5-all. The Tigers scored all of their runs by the fourth inning and were shut out for 15 straight frames, the last six by Chad Jenkins, who gave up seven hits and a walk, but kept the Tigers off the scoreboard. Normally a set-up guy, Jenkins has not given up an earned run in his last 14 2/3 innings, a streak dating back to June 26.

It was the second straight day that a game had gone 19 innings, the first time that has occurred in baseball history. On Saturday, the Angels outlasted the Red Sox, winning on a 19th-inning solo homer by Albert Pujols. That game took 6:21, six minutes less than the Blue Jays-Tigers extravaganza.

Mesoraco: 2HR 6RBI

With Baltimore winning and the Yankees losing, the Blue Jays find themselves five games behind the Orioles and a game better than New York. The Tigers, losers of five of their last seven, hold a slim 1/2-game lead over the surging Royals, who won their seventh straight, topping the Giants, 7-4.

National League

The Reds continue to hang on in the NL Central, in fourth place, five game behind Milwaukee, and are among five teams within 2 1/2 games of each other in search of two NL wild card positions.

On Sunday, catcher Devin Mesoraco drove in six runs with a pair of homers - a two-run shot in the first and a grand slam in the fifth - for a 7-2 Cincinnati win over visiting Miami.

The Reds, who slumped badly following the all-star break, losing seven straight and nine of ten, have regained some of their winning ways, going 8-5 since July 29.

Mesoraco has aided in the resurgence, batting .297 with 20 homers and 61 RBI.