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.

Devon Travis Guides Blue Jays over Boston; Nolan Arendao Blasts Pair of Homers in Rockies' 13-2 Rout of Royals

Players of the Day for Thursday, March 19, 2015

Grapefruit League

Devon Travis

Over the past three seasons, Jose Bautista has been one of the more productive hitters in either league, so it came as a surprise to nobody when he unleashed a massive solo homer in Toronto's 6-3 victory over the Red Sox. Boston fell to 9-7.

The Bautista blast - his third of the Spring season - and Devon Travis' two doubles and two RBI were key to the Blue Jays getting their ninth win against eight losses.

Travis spent 2013 in A ball, where he hit .351 with 16 home runs and 76 RBI. Last year, he moved up to AA and played in the Eastern League, batting .298 with 10 long balls and 52 RBI. He has never played in a major league game, though, from the looks of things, he may get his chance this season.

Nolan Arenado

Thus far in Spring training, Travis is 11-for-32 (.344) with five RBI, and he's getting an extended look at second base by Toronto's coaches.

Cactus League

With a 10-1 start in the Cactus League, the Kansas City Royals shot to first place like a missile, but recently have come back to earth, losing five of their last six, the latest pain being inflicted by the Colorado Rockies, who hammered out 17 hits in a 13-2 beat-down on Thursday.

The loss dropped the Royals to 11-6, and into a three-way tie for first place with the Dodgers and Diamondbacks. 8-7 Colorado is in with a bunch of teams, two games back.

Doing a rash of damage offensively was Nolan Arenado, who belted a pair of home runs off Royals' starter Jose Vargas, as the Rockies posted two runs in the first and rang up seven in the second inning.

Arenado finished 3-for-4 with five RBI and two runs scored. He is hitting .345 and Rockies fans are loving the look at third base.

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