Toronto Blue Jays’ Ryan Goins is doused by Devon Travis after hitting a game-winning RBI single in the ninth inning during MLB game action against the Cleveland Indians at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, on May 10, 2017.Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images
You know when you start singing the praises of the likes of Darwin Barney and Ryan Goins that your season is not going as planned.
The record of the Toronto Blue Jays is already nose-plug-worthy in the second month of the season, all the best-laid plans of club president Mark Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins torn asunder through a mind-bending series of injuries to key personnel.
Add designated hitter Kendrys Morales, Toronto's big off-season free-agent acquisition, to the list of walking wounded. He was absent from the starting lineup for Wednesday's series finale against the Cleveland Indians with left hamstring soreness.
He missed a wacky time as the Blue Jays, after trailing by as many as four runs, mounted a spirited, not to mention unexpected, comeback to stun the American League defending champions with an 8-7 victory before just over 35,000 onlookers at Rogers Centre.
With the score deadlocked at 7-7, the dagger was administered by Goins, who came to the plate with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning with the bases loaded courtesy of Cleveland reliever Cody Allen.
And Goins cashed his third hit of the game on the first pitch, a walk-off single down the right-field line that brought in the winning run and sent the Blue Jays dugout sprinting out onto the field after Goins in celebration.
"I believe in myself," Goins said afterward, when asked about a utility player coming through as he has so consistently of late. His two RBI's give him nine through nine games in May.
"It's not my choice [being a backup]," Goins continued. "We have a lot of great players in this room, that's why I'm not an everyday player usually.
"But when I get my opportunities I'm going to take advantage of them and things are working out."
With the win, Toronto took the three-game series 2-1. And after dispatching Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg, Fla., over the weekend the Blue Jays have now recorded back-to-back series wins for the first time this season.
Morales was injured running to first base in Tuesday's game and an MRI revealed some damage but not enough for the team to consider a trip to that ever popular seasonal destination frequented by the Blue Jays – the disabled list.
At least not yet.
It is already heavily populated by the likes of Josh Donaldson (calf), Troy Tulowitzki (hamstring), Russell Martin (shoulder), J.A. Happ (elbow) and Aaron Sanchez (finger).
The team is hoping to avoid having to book that junket by giving Morales a day or two off and play with a shortened bench in the hope he is a fast healer.
"It's unlike anything I've ever seen," Kevin Pillar, the team's centre fielder, said of the team's injuries.
The only good news to come from all the carnage is that Barney and Goins, usually utility infielders, have been pressed into service full time and both have performed admirably under trying circumstances.
Barney, a former Gold Glove winner as a second baseman, has been flirting with a .300 batting average as the primary replacement for Donaldson at third base.
And the Blue Jays have not skipped a beat defensively with the sure-handed Goins filling in for Tulowitzki at shortstop, although his .191 batting average heading into Wednesday's game does not exactly instill fear among opposing pitchers.
Still, Goins contributed a run-scoring hit earlier in the third inning, one of three hits he had in the game, and his three home runs have already tied his total from all of last season.
"They've been the saving grace for a season that clearly hasn't gone the way we wanted it to go," Pillar said of the duo. "But I keep trying to remind people, keep trying to stay positive.
"For as ugly of a start as we got off to and everything we've been through, if we're able to kind of ride out this storm we're going to be much better moving forward because of the fact these guys are getting the opportunity to play every day."
On a night when Toronto could have surely used a decent outing from a starter, Francisco Liriano could not come through as Cleveland led 2-0 after just 12 pitches in the top of the first inning on the strength of a two-run double by Jason Kipnis.
The Blue Jays came right back in their half of the inning with Jose Bautista, their labouring slugger, lashing a three-run home run down the left-field line off Cleveland starter Danny Salazar. That gave Toronto a 3-2 lead. The homer was just the third for Bautista, who was filling for Morales as the DH.
Given a new lease on life, Liriano started to suffocate again in the third inning where he was hammered him for five more runs to chase him from the game, with the Indians ahead 7-3.
Liriano's earned-run average is now an unhealthy 6.35 through seven starts.
But the Blue Jays showed resilience, scoring two in their half of the frame before a two-run home run by Ezequiel Carrera in the fourth, his third of the year, levelled proceedings.