Marco Estrada loses perfect game in 8th inning; Jays win in 12th
Marco Estrada lost his bid for a perfect game on Logan Forsythe's infield single with one out in the eighth inning, but Chris Colabello homered in the 12th to lift the Toronto Blue Jays over the Tampa Bay Rays 1-0 on Wednesday.
Estrada was five outs from pitching a perfect game Wednesday afternoon at Tampa Bay before the Rays' Logan Forsythe broke up the bid with an infield hit.
Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson bare-handed Forsythe's chopper and threw cleanly to first, but the runner beat the play out.
"It was a little frustrating just because it wasn't hit very hard," Estrada said. "Donaldson made a great play. The guy can run a little bit, so he beat it out."
Toronto challenged the safe call by umpire Joe West, which was confirmed after a 40-second replay review.
"It wasn't a pretty hit, but it was a hit," Forsythe said. "But hats off to him."
A batter earlier, Donaldson kept the perfect game alive by diving into the stands to catch a foul ball.
Estrada had a few more close calls. Tampa Bay's Jake Elmore flew out to deep centre with one out in the sixth after fouling off six straight pitches after the count reached 3-2.
In the fourth inning shortstop Jose Reyes went into the hole between short and third to field Joey Butler's grounder and threw him out at first.
In the seventh, right-fielder Jose Bautista made a sliding catch to grab Evan Longoria's foul ball to end the inning.
Estrada was removed with two out in the ninth, finishing with two hits allowed, 10 strikeouts and no walks. He would not factor in the decision after Toronto's Chris Colabello snapped a scoreless tie with a solo homer in the 12th inning that stood up as the only run in a 1-0 Jays win.
It was the Blue Jays' first homer in the 12th inning or later to break a scoreless tie since Jesse Barfield did it on Sept. 26, 1986, at Boston.
"I'm proud of the guys, but that's what they're made of. This is a more character team than we've had in the past," Gibbons said.
Brett Cecil (2-4) escaped a bases-loaded jam in the 11th, and Steve Delabar got three outs for his first save of the season.
