TORONTO -- Kevin Pillar had a chat with slugger Jose Bautista as they practised their swings shortly before the Toronto Blue Jays took on the Minnesota Twins on Monday night. Bautista offered some words of encouragement for the backup outfielder and told him to be aggressive at the plate. It proved to be sage advice. Pillar hit a one-out flare to right field off Casey Fien that drove in pinch-runner Erik Kratz with the winning run to give the Blue Jays a 5-4 walkoff victory at Rogers Centre. "It was a slider off the plate and I was just able to nestle it in somewhere," Pillar said. "And it feels good." Earlier in the inning, Pillar made a miscue in left field by diving for Kurt Suzukis sinking liner. He couldnt come up with the ball and it rolled by him, allowing the Twins to move within a run. Eduardo Escobar followed with a blooper off closer Casey Janssen that landed just inside the left-field line and brought Suzuki home with the tying run. "Baseball is a weird game," Pillar said. "You get a chance to make up for a mistake that you made maybe in the previous inning or early in the game. I was fortunate enough to make that happen." Edwin Encarnacion had staked Toronto (39-26) to an early lead with a three-run homer in the first inning off Minnesota starter Ricky Nolasco. Jose Reyes added a solo homer in the fifth inning for the Blue Jays, who lead the major leagues with 91 home runs. With the win, the Blue Jays remained 5 1/2 games ahead of second-place Baltimore in the American League East division standings. The Orioles defeated the Boston Red Sox 4-0 Monday. It was Torontos 16th victory in its last 20 games. "Weve been playing good baseball but you still need to win some of those games like that," said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. "For the longest time, everything has been going our way. Tonight things didnt go our way but we still managed to come out and pull out a nice win." Minnesota (29-33) scored a pair of quick runs off Toronto starter R.A. Dickey before many fans had taken their seats on a glorious spring evening. Danny Santana hit his first career leadoff home run and Brian Dozier followed with a rainbow shot just inside the foul pole in left field. Dickey settled down after that, retiring 11 straight batters at one point before Josh Willinghams triple in the sixth inning. The Twins loaded the bases but Dustin McGowan came on and got Trevor Plouffe to ground into a double play to end the threat. Janssen (1-0), who blew his second save of the season, gave up three hits in the ninth inning. With the crowd deflated after the Twins tied the game, Minnesota pitcher Matt Guerrier (0-1) walked Dioner Navarro to open the bottom of the ninth. Kratz came in to pinch-run, moved to second on a Reyes single and then scored with room to spare. "You walk the leadoff guy, you give yourself pretty much a mess and anything can happen after that," said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire. Pillar, who entered the game in the ninth as a defensive replacement for Melky Cabrera, said his defensive miscue was on his mind when he came to the plate. Thinking about his chat with Bautista, Pillar swung and missed the first two times before making contact. "Its a huge roller-coaster of emotions right there," he said. "I guess thats baseball. Theres a lot of ups and downs. You have to find a way to get back centred and deal with the task at hand." Notes: Encarnacion leads the Blue Jays with 20 homers this season. Reyes now has four homers this year. Dozier has 13 home runs while Santana has gone deep twice. ... Dickey allowed five hits, two earned runs, two walks and had three strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings. ... Nolasco allowed seven hits, four earned runs and a pair of walks. He had six strikeouts. ... Morales signed a one-year, prorated contract Sunday. The Cuban slugger hit .277 with 23 homers and 80 RBIs with Seattle last season. ... The Twins have hit four leadoff home runs this season. ... Toronto southpaw J.A. Happ is scheduled to start Tuesday night against right-hander Kevin Correia. ... The teams will wrap up the series Wednesday with an early afternoon game. ... Bautista has reached base safely in 62 of 65 games this season. ... Announced attendance was 19,428. The game took two hours 53 minutes to play. Ryan Kalil Womens Jersey . -- Officials have approved a deal to build a new $672 million stadium for the Atlanta Braves away from the downtown Atlanta area that has traditionally been its home. DJ Moore Womens Jersey .com) - SirDominic Pointer posted career highs of 24 points and seven steals to lead No. http://www.shoppanthersonline.us/panthers-dj-moore-blue-jersey/ . Spieth again showed game well beyond his 20 years with a 9-under 63 on the North Course, giving him a one-shot lead over Stewart Cink going into the weekend at the Farmers Insurance Open. Brian Burns Youth Jersey . It will mark the 22nd time the tournament has been held in this country and fourth in Atlanta Canada but will make its first appearance ever in played Nova Scotia. Will Grier Youth Jersey . Once again, the third baseman delivered in a big spot. Ramirez kept up his torrid hitting with a two-run homer to help back Wily Peraltas solid start, and the Brewers extended their winning streak to seven with a 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.Mike Ashley talks Newcastle, Manchester derby fall-out and Mark Schwarzer on Leicester. Its all in the SSN Now Podcast! It was another busy day on Sky Sports Now with plenty of talk on how the title race is shaping up. Sky Sports Now podcast - March 21 Listen to the Sky Sports Now podcast Leicester goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer gave us his thoughts on his sides title chances and there was reaction to the Manchester derby - from both Manuel Pellegrini and Louis van Gaal.dddddddddddd Mike Ashleys thoughts on Newcastles survival chances after their derby day draw are also worth listening out for.Plenty to catch then - and remember you can watch Sky Sports Now every week day from 10am on Sky Sports News HQ. Also See: Ashley: Rafa can keep us up How Leicester have adapted Premier League grades Live on Sky ' ' '