Devon Travis celebrated the return of Josh Donaldson and Troy Tulowitzki with one big swing for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Travis hit his second career grand slam as Toronto beat the Texas Rangers 7-6 on Friday night for their fourth consecutive victory.
Justin Smoak and Kendrys Morales also connected, while Aaron Loup (2-0) pitched 1-1/3 innings for the win.
Photo: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY
Texas have lost four straight, matching their longest slide of the season.
The Rangers, who are 8-17 on the road, held a brief team meeting following the game.
Travis went three for four, extending his hitting streak to 10 games. He homered off A.J. Griffin in the second, doubled in the fourth, and singled and scored on a wild pitch in the sixth.
Photo: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY
“He’s got a pure stroke and he’s elevating the ball right now,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said.
After Rougned Odor cut the gap to one with a three-run homer off Joe Smith in the ninth, Roberto Osuna came on and struck out Mike Napoli for his eighth save.
Tulowitzki had been out since April 21 with a strained right hamstring, while Donaldson went down on April 13 with a sore right calf.
“You can’t explain the presence those guys bring,” Travis said. “When those guys step in the clubhouse and you see their names on the lineup card, you know it’s business. We’ve got our team back, it’s nice.”
Donaldson finished one for four with a double. Tulowitzki went one for two with a single and two walks.
“It was nice to get out there and help right away,” Donaldson said.
Griffin (4-2) was forced to leave in the second after sustaining a strained left intercostal muscle. The right-hander, now winless in three starts, allowed three runs and four hits in 1-1/3 innings. It was the Rangers’ shortest start of the season.
“It got pretty tight there that last batter,” Griffin said. “It felt more like a cramp earlier on in the game. Sometimes those come and you can just pitch through them. It just kept tightening more and more, grabbing more and more.”
Austin Bibens-Dirkx replaced Griffin and pitched four innings.
The Rangers put Griffin on the 10-day disabled list and recalled right-hander Dillon Gee from Triple-A Round Rock.
Griffin is to undergo an MRI when the Rangers return home tomorrow.
Toronto also got a grand slam from infielder Ryan Goins in Wednesday’s win in Milwaukee.
The last pair of Blue Jays to hit grand slams in consecutive games was Brad Fullmer and Raul Mondesi, who did it April 20 and 21, 2001.
Travis, who has a major league-best 18 extra-base hits this month, broke Aaron Hill’s 2009 record for extra-base hits in a month by a Blue Jays second baseman.
Hill had 16 in September 2009.
Texas went two for 15 with runners in scoring position.
“Anytime you have that ratio, it becomes a challenge,” Texas manager Jeff Banister said.
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