But unfazed by the long foul on a would-be walk-off blast, the Blue Jays’ 25-year-old second baseman accomplished a nearly equal heroic feat by drawing a 14-pitch walk to keep that Jays’ 12th-inning rally alive. Showing the patience of a monk against the San Diego Padres, Travis battled through the high-pressure at-bat, fouling off nine pitches and outlasting former Blue Jay Carlos Villanueva. Three batters later, Travis’s patience was rewarded when he scored the winning run in unlikely fashion, scampering home on a wild pitch by Padres’ reliever Paul Clemens to secure the 7-6 victory. “I know I’m the guy they want,” he said in the clubhouse, after he had been mobbed on the field by his teammates. “That’s some kind of at-bat.”Batting ninth, with Jose Bautista, Josh Donaldson and Edwin Encarnacion at the top of the Jays’ order, Travis said he knows he’s the guy opposing pitchers want to attack.

Source: thestar July 27, 2016 03:22 UTC