TORONTO – Nineteen innings. Six hours and 37 minutes. Eight pitchers and fourteen position players used, some making as many as 10 plate appearances, to secure a 6-5 victory and a series win over the Detroit Tigers. It seemed appropriate, at least to some in the groggy media horde that ambled down to the victorious clubhouse on Sunday afternoon (oops, evening), that a fog machine had been used in whatever celebration had just occurred. "I cant give out all the secrets," said Colby Rasmus, who made two sparkling defensive plays, robbing Miguel Cabrera of extra bases with a catch up against the centrefield wall in the 18th and making a head-long, diving catch of a Bryan Holaday sinking line drive in the 19th. "I cant give out all the secrets. Hopefully itll keep working for us." The Blue Jays franchise is engaged in its 38th season of Major League Baseball. Never had it played in a game longer than 18 innings. Never had it played in a game that exceeded six hours. There were many heroes on this day. Jose Bautista delivered the walk off, bases loaded single, which must have felt particularly satisfying considering it was Bautistas first hit in 10 plate appearances. He did walk twice. The bullpen deserves the most credit. Mark Buehrle struggled badly, again, and was lifted after allowing five runs (two earned) with one out in the fourth. The Jays trailed 5-0 at the time and all seemed lost with 2012 Cy Young award winner David Price on the mound for Detroit. Nobody could have predicted that the offence would chip away, tagging Price for four runs before tying the game in the ninth off pseudo closer Joba Chamberlain. What it meant was seven Toronto relievers would be required to combine for 15 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball. They were up to the task. Todd Redmond went 2 2/3; rookie Aaron Sanchez tossed three innings; Brett Cecil and Dustin McGowan 1 1/3 each; Aaron Loup went a third of an inning; Casey Janssen a full inning and then Chad Jenkins drove the bus the rest of the way. He went six scoreless, his longest outing of the season, to secure his first big league win of the year. "That was a long one," said an exhausted Jenkins afterwards. "For all the fans who sat through all of it, thank you. That was awesome. I mean, its really exciting to look up and see its 7:30 and there are still people here cheering, going crazy, going nuts and it made it so much better." The Jays sold out both Saturdays and Sundays games. The Jays took the series two-out-of-three from the Tigers and did so winning the final two games started by the last two American League Cy Young award winners (Max Scherzer and Price). The series win gave Toronto five of six against the Tigers on the season. The victory gained the Blue Jays a game on Baltimore, which lost to St. Louis and allowed Toronto to hold serve with red-hot Kansas City, which leads the race for the second wild card spot by a game and a half on the Jays and Seattle Mariners. Oh, and the Blue Jays open a series in Seattle Monday night (against another former Cy Young award winner, Felix Hernandez, to boot). Oh, and the Tigers shouldnt sleep on the playoffs. Those Royals are but a half-game back of Detroit for the AL Central lead. Maybe these wins over the Tigers will matter to the Blue Jays in that wild card race. As the games and days pass by, the stakes become higher. The Blue Jays, as R.A. Dickey put so simply on Friday night, are "in it." If youre too young to remember the good old days of the mid-1980s and early 1990s, enjoy this. This is what it was like back then. And if youre old enough to remember those times, welcome back to feeling like a kid. SANCHEZ THRIVING Aaron Sanchez is blessed with the physical gifts needed to have a long, successful career as a big league pitcher. Hes tall, 64", and most of it is core and lower body. He laughed as he points to his hips. "I get heat from the guys, they always tell me Ive got a grandpas waistline," he said. "Theyre always on me about why I wear my pants so high." The legs are Sanchezs key; any pitchers key, really. From there he generates the power to effortlessly unleash fastballs which register 98 miles per hour on the radar gun. He doesnt know where he gets his height. Sanchez has two older brothers and an older sister and said hes at least four inches taller than each of them. Hes taller than both his parents. "There are some cousins on my moms side who are like seven-feet tall," said Sanchez. "So maybe thats where I get it from." With three scoreless innings in Sundays 6-5, 19-inning win over the Tigers, Sanchez has held the opposition without a run in five of his seven big league appearances. All have come out of the bullpen and its likely the rest will, too, as he gets further and further away from his last start, a six-inning performance for Triple-A Buffalo on July 10. Just because hes a reliever doesnt mean Sanchez has changed his daily routine. "I tried to stay running as a starter just because I dont know any different," said Sanchez. "I think thats kind of helped me bounce back better (after relief appearances) than I would have if I did minimal running, I guess to say. I dont know if that makes any difference or not but Ive just tried to continue with the same running that Ive done as a starter, you know the long distance, the sprint intervals, the stadiums, whatever it is just to get the lactic acid out of the arm." The Blue Jays toyed with Sanchez working in relief in spring training, culminating with an appearance against the Mets at Olympic Stadium in Montreal. He learned then the difference between taking all the time needed to prepare for a start and pitching in relief. Youve got to "get hot" quickly, as pitchers will say. Then, once in the game, theres little time to find a groove. "As a starter youve got six innings, two innings to get a curveball and figure some things out," said Sanchez. "As a reliever youve got to come in and just pound the zone and youre stuffs just got to be there." ROSTER MOVE The Blue Jays need help in the bullpen after seven relievers combined for 15 2/3 scoreless innings on Sunday afternoon. Left-hander Brad Mills has been added to the roster for Mondays series opener in Seattle. Infielder Ryan Goins was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo. 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Nike Zoom Clearance .Y. - Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby captured his second career Art Ross trophy on Sunday after leading the NHL in scoring this season.WINDSOR, Ont. -- The Windsor Spitfires were left with just one goaltender Tuesday after having their starter walk out on them midway through Game 3 of their Ontario Hockey League playoff matchup with the London Knights. Dalen Kuchmey pulled himself from Windsors net, went to the dressing room, changed and drove away from the arena after giving up eight goals on 26 shots, leaving the Spitfires trailing 8-1 with 5:34 remaining in the second period. London went on to win the game 10-2. "Youre going to have to ask him," Spitfires head coach Bob Boughner said when asked about Kuchmeys whereabouts during the third period. "He left the ice and the rink before the (second) period was over. He quit on our team and he quit on his teammates." Kuchmey was making his first start of the series, filling in for regular starter Alex Fotinos who came down sick after starting Game 1 and 2. London jumped out to a 4-0 lead after 20 minutes of play and Boughner spoke to Fotinos about replacing Kuchmey to start the second, but decided to stick with the healthier 19-year-old despite the score. "I asked our backup goalie (Fotinos) who had been sick all day at the end of the first period if he could go in if we had to pull Kuch at some point," Boughner said. "He said, if you need me, great, but I dont feel good at all. Added Boughner: "Our backup was sick. It is what it is and I really dont have anything more to say as I havent talked to (Kuchmey). But once you quit on our team .... Id rather concentrate on the guys who want to be here." Ryan Rupert and Bo Horvat each had a goal and three assists for the Knights, who have a commanding 3-0 series lead. Zach Bell, Chandler Yakimowicz, Michael McCarron, Matt Rupert, Nikita Zadorov, Chris Tierney, Josh Anderson and Mitchell Marner added the others. Londons Anthony Stolarz made 24 saves for the win. Stolarz received a two-minute minor for high sticking at the 15:56 mark of the first period after hitting Josh Ho-Sang in the back of the head with his stick. Ho-Sang and Ben Johnson scored for the Spitfires as Fotinos wound up stopping 11-of-13 shots in 25 minutes of relief. Boughner added that goaltender Brenddan Johnston could be called up from Chatham Jr.dddddddddddd B in time for Game 4 on Thursday. --- ICEDOGS 2 BATTALION 0 ST. CATHARINES, Ont. -- Brent Moran made 42 saves as the IceDogs shut out North Bay to take a 2-1 lead in their series. Billy Jenkins and Eric Ming supplied the offence for Niagara. Jake Smith made 24 saves for the Battalion. North Bays defence pairing of Dylan Blujus and Marcus McIvor were caught on the ice for both goals against. --- WHALERS 2 STORM 1 PLYMOUTH, Mich. -- Zach Lorentzs goal eight minutes into the third period stood as the winner as the Whalers downed Guelph to take Game 3. Victor Crus Rydberg also scored for Plymouth, while Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 52 shots. Ryan Horvat was the lone scorer for the Storm and Justin Nichols turned aside 25 shots. Guelph leads the series 2-1. --- COLTS 6 WOLVES 4 SUDBURY, Ont. -- Brendan Lemieux and Andrew Mangiapane had two goals each as Barrie skated past the Wolves to take a commanding 3-0 series lead. Jake Dotchin and Aaron Ekblad also scored for the Colts, while Mackenzie Blackwood made 32 saves for the win. Nicholas Baptiste led Sudbury with a goal and two assists. Radek Faksa, Connor Crisp and Brody Silk chipped in as well. Franky Palazzese stopped 27-of-32 shots for the Wolves. --- FRONTENACS 4 PETES 2 PETERBOROUGH, Ont. -- Samuel Schutt scored twice and Matt Mahalak made 43 saves as Kingston doubled up the Petes to go up 3-0 in its first-round matchup. Michael Moffat and Sam Bennett also scored for the Frontenacs. Steven Lorentz and Nick Ritchie scored for Peterbrough. Petes goaltender Andrew DAgostini stopped 44-of-47 shots in defeat. --- GENERALS 6 STEELHEADS 5 (2OT) MISSISSAUGA, Ont. -- Josh Sterk scored 11:28 into the second overtime to lift Oshawa to a 3-0 series lead over the Steelheads. Michael Dal Colle scored twice for the Generals. Cole Cassels had a goal and two assists, while Scott Laughton and Dylan Smoskowitz each added a goal and an assist. Sam Babintsev led Mississauga with three goals while Austin Gerhart and Lucas Venuto added the others. Oshawas Daniel Altshuller made 28 saves for the win as Spencer Martin stopped 58 shots for the Steelheads. ' ' '