Tellez hits career-long HR, but errors costly

ATLANTA -- Rowdy Tellez is embracing every opportunity he’s given.

When the 24-year-old Blue Jays slugger strode to the plate with one out and none on in the top of the fifth inning of Monday’s 6-3 loss to the Braves at SunTrust Park, he had 13 career plate appearances as a pinch-hitter under his belt. In his 14th, Tellez did what he had only accomplished on one other occasion.

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Tellez sent the ball out of the stadium and left no doubt with his 16th of the year. He launched it 112.9 mph off the bat -- the hardest-hit ball of the game -- and 455 feet to right-center field, according to Statcast. It was his longest blast of the year.

“That’s what Rowdy needs to do: Go deep,” Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said. “His OPS needs to go up. His average needs to go up. He’s going to get a chance to show what he can do, and it’s going to be a big September for Rowdy -- to see what he can do, to see what we’ve got for next year.

“I’m hoping he can do it, because he’s got the tools to do what he just did. Of course, he’s not going to hit a home run every at-bat, but he’s got the tools to hit home runs and RBIs, because he’s got power.”

With his home run swing, the California native raised his average on the season to .220 and his OPS to .702, while doubling Toronto’s run total, just one inning after Randal Grichuk led off the fourth with his 24th home run of the season.

“I need to keep it going, really just keep the confidence and keep that swing going and the level of comfort in the box,” Tellez said. “It’s tough [when I’m not playing every day], but it’s something I’ve got to get used to and adapt to. Talking to people doing the same thing I do or have done it, I know I need to stay focused and find ways to stay focused when I don’t play, knowing I might have to pinch-hit later, or when I’m DH-ing.”

Ahead of Monday’s pinch-hit homer, eight of Tellez’s 19 career bombs had come in high-leverage situations, with four home runs tying games for the Blue Jays and three to go ahead in his 113 Major League contests. When Tellez went yard on Monday, he did so off of Braves starter and Calgary native Mike Soroka, who had not allowed more than one homer in any of his previous 29 starts in the Majors.

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“I’m trying to swing at strikes. Hopefully, just trying to put good swings on good pitches,” Tellez said. “I got into a good count this time, laid off some tough pitches. I got something over the heart of the plate, and I was able to do some damage.”

Added Soroka: "Most of the first half of the season, where I was doing well was with the pitches I didn’t execute. They were outside of the zone. They were in places I wasn’t going to get hurt. The past couple outings, they’ve been out over the plate and they’ve hurt me."

The series opener against Atlanta marked the 13th game Tellez has seen action in with Toronto since being recalled from Triple-A Buffalo after 26 matchups with the Bisons. The 6-foot-4, 255-pound infielder began the season with the Blue Jays, but struggled to find consistency at the plate before Toronto used its option.

Tellez earned his return the Majors after hitting .366 (34-for-93) with seven home runs, nine doubles and 21 RBIs in 26 games with Buffalo.

“Confidence is probably the biggest thing,” Tellez said. “When you’re not doing well, obviously there’s probably something mentally and physically that’s not really clicking, but confidence for me is a big thing. When I’m struggling, I’m getting a little hard on myself and reading into things too much instead of letting them go and moving onto the next at-bat.”

“I need to do a better job of flushing that and focusing on the next one and getting prepared, rather than letting what I just went through linger in my head. [A pinch-hit homer] is a little easier to carry on, but it was a tough loss today. We’re just trying to get back in there tomorrow and get a win.”

The homers from Tellez and Grichuk, who also added a sacrifice fly in the fifth, were undone by three errors in Monday’s matinee, which in large part helped the Braves to score six runs on just four hits.

“We were in the game, but the errors and stuff just ended up being too much against a good team,” Montoyo said. “Sooner or later, they’re going to make you pay, and they did.”