Devon Travis Grand Slam Carries Blue Jays Past Texas; Charlie Blackmon, Anotonio Senzatela Lead Rockies

Players of the Day for Friday, May 26, 2017

American League

Travis' slam tops Texas

Opening a series with the visiting Texas Rangers, Toronto was happy to have Josh Donaldson and Troy Tulowitzki back in the lineup after both of them had spent more than a month on the DL.

As it turned out, it was an everyday player, second baseman Devon Travis, who propelled the Jays to a 7-6 win, going 3-for-4 with a single, double and second inning grand slam.

Generally not known as a power hitter, Travis took an A.J. Travis pitch into the left field seats, giving Toronto a lead they would never relinquish. The final score was much closer than the game was in reality, as the Rangers scored three runs in the top of the ninth on a Rougned Odor homer. With two outs in the inning, Roberto Osuna came on to strike out Mike Napoli to end the Texas threat.

While Donaldson and Tulowitzki had a hit apiece, it was the play of Travis that carried the day. After singling in the sixth, he scored on a wild pitch by Jeremy Jeffress to complete Toronto's scoring.

The win was important to the Blue Jays, as the Yankees were losing, 4-1, to Oakland, leaving Toronto still in last place, but just 6 1/2 games behind the division leading Yanks.

Toronto hosts Texas in game two of their three-game stint, Saturday at 1:07 pm ET.

Blackmon: 45 RBI leads NL

National League

To say that Colorado leadoff hitter Charlie Blackmon is having a good season would be the understatement of the year.

Senzatela: 7-1

Blackmon went 4-for-4 in the Rockies' 10-0 win over St. Louis in the opener of their three-game series in Denver, missing the cycle for lack of a double. His 45 RBI lead the league; he has 69 hits, 10 more than Ryan Zimmerman, who is second league-wide, and he's eighth in batting with a .337 average.

Blackmon drove in three runs with a triple in the second, a solo homer in the eighth, and an RBI single later in the same inning. Meanwhile, Colorado starter, Antonio Senzatela joined LA's Clayton Kershaw as the only NL hurlers with seven wins. In his rookie season, Senzatela is 7-1, with a 3.19 ERA after blanking the Cardinals for eight innings, allowing five hits, no walks, fanning three.

The win kept the Rockies in first place in the NL West, one game up on Arizona, while the Cardinals fell to third, though only one game behind the Cubs in the Central. Milwaukee is 1/2 behind Chicago.

Game two is scheduled for Saturday night, 9:10 pm ET at Coors Field.