CLEVELAND - Jose Bautista led off the 10th inning with his second homer of the game, lifting the Toronto Blue Jays to a 5-4 win over the Cleveland Indians on Saturday night.
Bautista, who leads the majors with 31 homers, connected on a 1-0 pitch from Chris Perez (3-2) after the Indians tied it in the ninth on Travis Buck's two-out double. The all-star slugger has four multihomer games this season and 15 in his career.
Bautista now has 101 home runs as a member of the Blue Jays.
It was Toronto's second straight win in the series after a stunning loss on Thursday during which the Indians rallied for a 5-4 win on Travis Hafner's game-ending grand slam in the ninth.
Cleveland nearly pulled off another memorable comeback Saturday. Hafner started the ninth with a single and Carlos Santana followed with a grounder that glanced off reliever Jon Rauch's glove and rolled to first baseman Adam Lind. Rauch (3-3) raced to the bag and took the throw, which was barely in time to beat Santana, who made a headfirst slide.
Pinch-runner Austin Kearns moved to second on the grounder and advanced again when Grady Sizemore tapped back to the mound. Buck then doubled off the wall in left-centre on the 11th pitch of the at-bat. Matt LaPorta grounded out to end the inning, clearing the way for Bautista's second homer.
Shawn Camp pitched a perfect 10th for his first save.
Toronto starter Brandon Morrow allowed three runs and three hits over eight innings in his longest outing of the season. He struck out eight and walked two.
Bautista lined a 1-0 pitch from Josh Tomlin into the bleachers in left field with two outs in the third, giving Toronto a 2-1 lead. Bautista also became the first major leaguer to hit 30 homers before the All-Star break since Alex Rodriguez in 2007, and set a club record for home runs before the break, snapping a tie with George Bell, who hit 29 in 1987.
An error by Buck, the first of his career, helped the Blue Jays go in front 4-3 in the fifth. After Eric Thames was hit by a pitch, Lind hit a liner to right for what appeared to be the third out. Buck reached down to make the catch, but the ball hit off his glove, sending Thames to third. Buck's throw to first hit Lind in the leg as he rounded the bag and rolled to the Blue Jays' dugout, allowing Thames to score.
Lind was credited with a single and Buck was given an error on the throw. Buck had played 192 games without committing an error.
Sizemore hit a two-run homer in the fourth to tie it 3-3.
NOTES: Toronto is 25-25 on the road. ... Ten of the Blue Jays' last 13 games have been decided by two runs or less. Toronto is 3-7 in those games. ... Bautista became the quickest player in Toronto history to reach 100 home runs. He accomplished the feat in 377 games. ... Jose Molina doubled twice off Tomlin and is 4-for-5 against the right-hander in his career. ... Indians manager Manny Acta said OF Shin-Soo Choo has had the cast removed from his broken right thumb. The Indians expect Choo, who was injured on June 24, to return this season. ... Indians 3B Lonnie Chisenhall (nasal fracture) played catch Saturday. He was hit in the face with a pitch Thursday.
