Solarte, Donaldson hot in Cleveland in G2 loss

CLEVELAND -- Yangervis Solarte and Josh Donaldson continued their torrid hitting into the second game of Thursday's doubleheader against the Indians, but in the end, the duo could only do so much.
Despite homers from the infielders for the second consecutive game, the rest of the team fell flat in a 13-4 loss at Progressive Field.
Solarte and Donaldson picked up right where they left off after a stellar opening game, which the Blue Jays won, 13-11, in 11 innings, thanks to Solarte's first career grand slam. Solarte homered in his first at-bat of Game 2, and Donaldson followed suit with a leadoff shot in the fourth inning. Not to be outdone, Solarte doubled two batters later.
On the day, Solarte set a franchise record with eight hits and became the first Blue Jays hitter to have at least two homers, seven hits and seven RBIs in a doubleheader. The day was even more impressive, considering that he cut his inner lip during a headfirst slide in the third inning of the first game.
"I went through the Minors," Solarte said. "I went through a lot of difficulties in the Minors. It'll take a lot more to get me out of the game. I knew I just had to go through the pain, and look what happened."

"It banged him up pretty good," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said of the switch-hitter. "He's a good hitter. Of course he had a huge day, but he's off to a great start for us. Either side of the plate, it doesn't matter. He's a great hitter."
Donaldson, meanwhile, had to settle for two home runs and two doubles in a 4-for-11 day with four RBIs. Certainly an impressive output considering he had just been activated from the 10-day disabled list earlier in the day following right shoulder inflammation.
"I have a lot of confidence in myself and what I can achieve, but at the same time my expectations weren't that," Donaldson said. "I'm glad we were able to come away with at least one here against a very quality ballclub there. I'm thankful to be able to contribute to that win."

But as great as Solarte and Donaldson were, the rest of the offense could not keep up. Dwight Smith Jr. (two doubles), Aledmys Díaz (a leadoff home run in the eighth) and Kevin Pillar (ninth-inning single) were the only other Blue Jays to pick up hits.
The Blue Jays put together a small rally in the ninth when Solarte picked up his final hit, but the game was already out of hand by that point after the Indians scored nine runs in the fifth inning, prematurely ending starter Joe Biagini's night.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Inauspicious debut: After the first game of the doubleheader, the Blue Jays selected the contract of reliever Luis Santos to bring a fresh arm into the bullpen. However, the right-hander's day did not go as hoped when he came in to pitch with two runners on in the fifth. Santos issued two straight walks, gave up a pair of doubles, walked another batter and gave up another double before getting out of the inning with a sacrifice fly and strikeout. Santos was able to limit damage in the sixth inning with a single and an RBI double, bringing his final line to six runs on five hits and three walks over 1 2/3 innings.
SOUND SMART
According to Elias Sports Bureau, the last time a team gave up at least 7 runs in an inning in both legs of a doubleheader was the Tigers on July 22, 1975, against the Athletics.
HE SAID IT
"He's tough. He's a ballplayer. I was noticing earlier in the game too that third base was a little soft over there, as far as the dirt was concerned. So that's kind of why it happened. I think he kind of made sure throughout that he wasn't going to headfirst slide the rest of the time." -- Donaldson, on Solarte

UP NEXT
J.A. Happ is coming off two of his best starts of the season, as he went seven innings against both the Red Sox and Rangers with a combined 19 strikeouts and no walks. Happ has had a slight problem keeping the ball in the park this season, however, as he has allowed six homers over six starts. He'll face the Rays' Andrew Kittredge Friday at 7:10 p.m. ET.