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Friday, Sep. 1 7:05pm ET
Batista comes up clutch in 9th | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
TORONTO (AP) -- The Toronto Blue Jays began the Ted Rogers era with a victory. Tony Batista singled home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning Friday night and the Blue Jays defeated the Oakland Athletics 4-3. "It was a good moment for me, the team and the new owner," Batista said. Rogers, president and chief operating officer of Rogers Communication, agreed Friday to purchase controlling interest in the Blue Jays. He agreed to buy 80 percent of the team from Interbrew SA, a Belgian brewery, for $112 million. Rogers met with the players before the game, and after the game incoming chief executive officer Paul Godfrey shook hands with Batista and introduced him to his son. "It's nice to have an owner that shows interest," said John Frascatore (2-3), who got two outs in the eighth for the win. "They're exciting. Mr. Rogers is just as intense as I am, and after talking to him today you can tell that he wants to win." The Blue Jays won it with three straight hits to open the inning. Dave Martinez led off with a single against Doug Jones (3-2), Carlos Delgado followed with a bloop single and Batista lined a single to left field. "It was well off the plate, and Batista just fought it off," Jones said. It was Batista's fourth game-winning hit of the season. "We tried to show the new owners we're prepared for any situation, and that we'll make this last month count," Batista said. The Blue Jays remained 1½ games behind Cleveland in the AL wild card race. Martinez had three hits and extended his career-high hitting streak to 21 games. He has hit in every game since being acquired from Texas on Aug. 5. "It was just an all-around good day," Martinez said. "The new owners get their first win out of the way on the first day." Oakland took a 3-0 lead in the second. Ramon Hernandez hit an RBI single and later scored on a double steal, and Randy Velarde singled home a run. The Blue Jays scored twice in the bottom half on Jose Cruz's RBI double and Darrin Fletcher's run-scoring single. After Oakland starter Mark Mulder allowed a single to Fletcher and a walk to Craig Grebeck in the sixth, Jeff Tam relieved and gave up a tying single to Shannon Stewart. After Tam walked Alex Gonzalez to load the bases, Mike Magnante relieved and retired Martinez and Delgado on fly balls. Game notesOakland's Jason Giambi didn't play because of a strained left shoulder. He received a cortisone shot after Wednesday night's game and remains day-to-day. Giambi is hitting .319 with 30 homers and 115 RBIs. ... The Athletics added catcher A.J. Hinch to its expanded roster. ... Oakland activated reliever T.J. Mathews from the 15-day disabled list. ... Toronto starter Joey Hamilton gave up three runs on 10 hits in seven innings. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Oakland Clubhouse Toronto Clubhouse Canadian cable company to buy Blue Jays
RECAPS Boston 6 Seattle 2
Toronto 4
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