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  Thursday, Apr. 20 7:05pm ET
Jays' Fletcher slams Anaheim with 5 RBI
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

TORONTO (AP) -- The Toronto Blue Jays nearly let the Anaheim Angels slip off the hook.

Darrin Fletcher hit a grand slam and tied a career high with five RBI as the Blue Jays built a 10-run lead, and held on to beat the Angels 12-11 on Thursday night.

Darrin Fletcher
Blue Jays catcher Darrin Fletcher, right, drove in Brad Fullmer and Carlos Delgado with a fourth-inning grand slam.

"Usually when you're up 11-1 in the sixth you think you got the game in hand," Toronto manager Jim Fregosi said. "We got ourselves in trouble, but this is the first series we've won all year."

The Angels, who lost three of their four games against Toronto, sent 13 men to the plate in the sixth and scored eight runs.

Matt Walbeck's homer off Pedro Borbon made it 11-10 in the seventh, but Homer Bush restored Toronto's two-run lead with a two-out single in the bottom of the inning.

Anaheim closed to 12-11 in the eighth when Adam Kennedy led off with a double against Billy Koch, Mo Vaughn singled and Tim Salmon hit an RBI grounder. Garret Anderson ended the threat by grounding into a double play.

The Angels put a runner on second base with one out in the ninth before Alex Gonzalez made a nice over the shoulder catch in shallow left center for the second out. Koch then struck out Benji Gill swinging, but Fletcher dropped the third strike. Fletcher unloaded a high throw to first, but Carlos Delgado made the catch.

"Carlos is a big target over there," Fletcher said. "I've seen him jump and dance around in the clubhouse and I knew he'd get that one."

Fletcher's fourth career slam, off Anaheim starter Kent Bottenfield, gave Toronto a 11-1 lead in the fourth. The Blue Jays scored six runs in the inning on Raul Mondesi's RBI double, Brad Fullmer's RBI single and Fletcher's slam.

"Whether it's the SkyDome, bad pitching, or a juiced ball, teams have been putting up chunk's of runs here," Fletcher said.

Bottenfield (1-2) allowed nine runs and 10 hits in just 3 1/3 innings.

Toronto starter Roy Halladay (2-2) breezed through the first five innings before allowing six runs in the sixth. Darin Erstad and Vaughn each had two-run singles and Tim Salmon added a sacrifice fly off Paul Quantrill.

"We're down 11-1 in the sixth, but there's no quit in this clubhouse," Anaheim manager Mike Scioscia said.

Carlos Delgado homered for Toronto in the second inning.

Game notes
Koch watched John Rocker earn his first save on a clubhouse TV. Before Rocker got the last out, Koch said: "Somebody hit a bomb!" Koch has reasons to root against Rocker. The native New Yorker has hated the Braves since his days at Clemson. "They don't have a team in Carolina so they would always yap about the Braves," Koch said. ... Fletcher has seven five-RBI games in his career. ... Fregosi said Shannon Stewart might have to be placed on the 15-day disabled list. Stewart's pulled quadriceps and strained right hamstring is not getting any better. He's missed four games. ... Salmon ended a 0-for-14 slump with a double in the sixth. ... Bottenfield has pitched for seven major league organizations over the past eight years. ...He had missed the previous five games because of a pulled quadriceps and a strained left hamstring.

 


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