The Canadian Press
John Chidley-Hill
TORONTO–Russell Martin’s seventh home run of the season barely made it over the wall.
But like most of his homers this year, his timing was impeccable.
Martin hit a deep fly ball to centrefield that Willy Garcia had to play right to the wall.
But as the White Sox centre-fielder jumped up to catch the ball, it bounced off the wall directly behind his glove and over.
The sixth-inning shot drove in Troy Tulowitzki and helped the Toronto Blue Jays rally past the Chicago White Sox 7-3 yesterday afternoon.
“It wasn’t a no-doubter by any means,” Martin said afterwards in the Jays’ clubhouse, still dressed in his jersey.
“I saw on a replay that it hit the top of the wall.
“It might make up for all the times where I hit the ball hard and didn’t see the result,” he added.
Five of Martin’s homers this season either have ttied the game for the Jays or given them the lead.
“I’d say that’s pretty good timing,” Martin laughed.
“I don’t know what else to say but timing is key; timing is everything they say.”
The win was timely for Toronto, as well, with the Jays struggling to a 7-8 record so far in June after back-to-back losses at Rogers Centre to the last-place White Sox.
It also was important for Toronto to hit the road on a winning note with a four-game series in Texas starting tonight and a three-game series in Kansas City right after that.
Both teams have become rivals for the Jays in the past two post-seasons, and are also in the hunt for a wild-card spot.
“It’s always big, we’ve been battling to get back to that .500 mark,” noted Jays’ manager John Gibbons.
“We head down to Texas and Kansas City,” he said. “It’ll be hot in both places, we know that.
“We always have our battles with Texas.
The native of San Antonio, Tex., then added with a smile: “It’s always a good thing to go to the Lone Star State anyway, regardless, right?”
Kendrys Morales hit a two-run blast as Toronto (33-35) battled back from a 3-0 deficit.
Kevin Pillar had an RBI single and Ryan Goins drove in a run with a triple to account for the rest of the Jays’ runs.
“Any win is huge, but that right there to not get swept at home is big,” stressed Goins.
“Then going on the road to face two good teams that always bring a little bit of fire out in us is going to be a good time.”
J.A. Happ (2-4) struck out nine in 6 2/3 innings, but allowed eight hits and three runs.
Danny Barnes pitched 1 1/3 inning of relief before Roberto Osuna came in for a scoreless ninth inning.
Yolmer Sanchez and Jose Abreu had RBI singles in the fifth to build a 3-0 lead for Chicago (31-37).
The White Sox saw their three-game win streak snapped.
James Shields (1-0) pitched 5 2/3 innings, scattering seven hits and giving up three runs.
Relievers Anthony Swarzak and Dan Jennings allowed two runs apiece.
Swarzak (3-2) was charged with the loss.
Elsewhere in the AL, Cleveland beat Minnesota 5-2, Tampa Bay dumped Detroit 9-1, Seattle downed Texas 7-3, Kansas City upended L.A. 7-3, Oakland nipped New York 4-3, and Boston topped Houston 6-5.
