Back-to-back homers power Blue Jays to victory against Nationals

The Toronto Blue Jays put on quite the firework show for Father’s Day as the team managed to hit four home runs en route to defeating the Nationals 8-6 and sweeping the series.

The Blue Jays who were tied 6-6 with Washington received back-to-back homers in the bottom of the eighth from Teoscar Hernandez and Yangervis Solarte. The neighbouring long balls came off of relief pitcher Ryan Madson and gave Toronto an 8-6 lead that it did not relinquish.

What made the Solarte home run extra special this Father’s Day was the fact that his three daughters were in attendance to watch him go yard. The normally happy going Blue Jay has had to bear some devastating times in his family life as his wife and the mother of his three daughters, Yuliette Solarte, passed away in 2016 at age 31 due to complications from her fight against cancer.

The Jays have started to heat up in the month of June. Winners of three-straight at the moment, Toronto has also won seven of their last 10 games. Power-hitting has been a common theme to the team’s success as it has gone deep 18 times in that stretch.

Randal Grichuk also had a big impact on the day of dads. His bat was the source of two solo home runs against the Nationals. Over the past 10 games, the Toronto outfielder has hit for a .382 average with four blasts and 10 runs batted in.

Solarte’s 15 home runs and Hernandez’s 12 long bombs currently sit first and second on Toronto. Despite starting the year off in Triple-A Buffalo, Hernandez has become one of the most dangerous bats in the Blue Jays’ lineup.