Anthony Alford continues to be red hot, hitting his third home run in two days as the Blue Jays beat the Phillies 8-7 in Clearwater on Saturday, but it was Andy Burns gave the Blue Jays the winning run in the top of the ninth on a home run that was called a double.
For Alford it was his fourth home run of the spring and he also took a walk, stole a base and scored twice, driving in three runs, going 1/3. Teoscar Hernandez was 2/3, bumping his Grapefruit League batting average to .522 with two singles, an RBI and a run. Richard Urena was 2/3 with an RBI as he continues to swing the bat well this spring, moving his average to .353. Freddy Galvis was 1/2 with a walk and a run while Eric Sogard was 2/5 with two doubles.
Andy Burns got the Blue Jays back in the lead in the top of the ninth inning with an RBI double that should have been called a home run, driving in Sogard, giving him two hits for the day.
Matt Shoemaker started and struck out four in three innings although he also gave up two home runs, three runs and walked four. Zach Jackson pitched the fourth, striking out three and giving up a hit. David Paulino struck out two, walking one and giving up a hit while Elvis Luciano allowed two solo home runs but also struck out two in the sixth.
Ryan Tepera got a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh but Corey Copping struggled find his command in the eighth, walking one and allowing three hits including a double that drove in two runs. He left two runners on with one out for lefty Kirby Snead who struck out Mickey Moniak and Archimedes Gamboa to end the inning tied at seven. Snead pitched to one batter in the ninth, giving up a hit before Jackson McClelland came on and induced a double play. It would take McClelland three more batters to get the final out, walking one, hitting the next and then striking out the third to finish up the game and nail down the save.
The next action is on Sunday in Fort Myers as Ryan Borucki takes on the Minnesota Twins.
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