Great Wild North: Travis takes off, stuns SD!

TORONTO -- Just when it appeared as though the Blue Jays were down and out, their offense brought them all the way back in the most unconventional way.
Toronto scored three runs in the bottom of the 12th inning, including the winning run on a wild pitch, to earn a 7-6, come-from-behind victory over the Padres on Tuesday night at Rogers Centre.
Down by two heading into the bottom of the 12th, Toronto loaded the bases and tied the game on a bases-loaded walk by José Bautista and an RBI fielder's choice by Josh Donaldson, setting the stage for Padres reliever Paul Clemens' wild pitch, which allowed Devon Travis to scamper home. The Blue Jays' victory clinched the series and was their sixth win in their past eight games.

"I knew the guy had a real good curveball, a real sharp one," Travis said. "I was praying for one in the dirt, and I'm thankful it took a bad bounce [for them] and a good bounce for us."

It looked as though the Padres would earn their first victory at Rogers Centre in the top of the inning, when Matt Kemp slammed a two-run home run to briefly give the Padres a 6-4 lead. Kemp's 23rd home run of the season came off Blue Jays reliever Jesse Chavez, who picked up the victory after throwing three innings.
Alex Dickerson extended San Diego's franchise-best streak to 24 straight games with a home run when he launched a three-run shot in the top of the sixth inning. The Padres are the sixth team to homer in 24 straight games and the first since the 2002 Rangers, who homered in an MLB-record 27 consecutive games.
"It's a fun thing to keep track of," Dickerson said of the streak. "And it's showing that we're able to create quick offense on a consistent basis. We've just got to be able to string that together more often."
Neither starter factored into Tuesday evening's decision.
Padres trade candidate Andrew Cashner allowed a pair of home runs, but he held the Blue Jays to three runs over six innings while striking out six. Blue Jays starter Marcus Stroman allowed four runs over 6 2/3 innings, including Dickerson's home run in the sixth. The 25-year-old Duke product struck out seven San Diego batters while walking one.

"I felt great," Stroman said. "I felt I just made one bad pitch and I got beat for it. I felt great, I felt strong and I couldn't be in a better place. "
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Walk it out: The bizarre bottom of the 12th inning never would have happened without a key at-bat from Travis. With two runners on base and one out, Travis worked the count full and then fouled off eight consecutive pitches. One went just foul down the right-field line and came within a few feet of being a walk-off homer. Travis then earned a free pass on the 14th pitch and chased Carlos Villanueva from the game. Bautista followed with a five-pitch walk, and Donaldson evened the score on a fielder's choice before the wild pitch by Clemens ended the game.

"I can't imagine I've had an at-bat longer than that," Travis said. "I'm just thinking, 'Fight, keep fighting, or walk me, one or the other.' I just did my best to battle, foul off some tough pitches. Hopefully he makes a mistake and it works out." More >
Dickerson does it again: Dickerson -- who was handed the keys to the starting left-field job Tuesday when Melvin Upton Jr. was traded to Toronto -- has taken it upon himself to extend the Padres' home run streak in three consecutive games. In doing so, he also became the fifth Padres rookie with dingers in three straight, and the first since Will Venable did so in 2009.

"The guy's always hit," Padres manager Andy Green said of Dickerson. "He's hit .300 every single place he's ever stopped. I don't think he expects to hit anything but .300. With the bat speed he has, with the approach he has, he's already getting better and better." More >
Early rain: The Blue Jays struck quickly in the bottom of the first against Cashner. After Bautista drew a leadoff walk, Donaldson took the Padres' right-hander out to straight-away center field for his 25th home run of the season. Donaldson became the first third baseman in Blue Jays history with back-to-back seasons of 25-plus home runs. The reigning American League Most Valuable Player hit 41 last season.

Kemp crushes: Kemp's 12th-inning homer was his 23rd of the season, leading the Padres and equalling his total from the entire 2015 season. He's been on a tear since the calendar flipped to June, batting .297 with 10 dingers. It marked Kemp's eighth career go-ahead homer in the ninth inning or later and his first since '12.
QUOTABLE
"I haven't really thought about it, honestly, but I think, more than anything, I'll miss the coaches and teammates and the friendships that I've made here." -- Cashner, on the possibility he's dealt before Monday's Trade Deadline

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Michael Saunders' stolen base in the bottom of the fourth inning was his first of the season, first as a Blue Jay and first since September 27, 2014, against the Angels.
WHAT'S NEXT
Padres: Rookie Rule 5 pick Luis Perdomo has baffled hitters with his sinker of late, and his 62 percent ground-ball rate is the highest in the Majors over the past 30 days. He gets the ball Wednesday for a 9:37 a.m. PT start, and he'll get the chance to face his former teammate, Upton Jr., who is slated to be in the starting lineup for Toronto.
Blue Jays: Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey will take the mound when the Blue Jays close out their three-game series against the Padres on Wednesday at 12:37 p.m. ET. This outing originally belonged to Marco Estrada, but he was pushed back to Friday, which will allow him to face division-rival Baltimore. Dickey allowed six runs over three innings during his last outing against the Mariners.
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