TORONTO – Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a three-run homer and Yusei Kikuchi threw six strong innings as the Toronto Blue Jays held on for a 6-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday afternoon at Rogers Centre.
Ernie Clement drove in a pair of runs and Justin Turner had two hits as Toronto salvaged a split of the four-game series. The Blue Jays (30-32) have won seven of their last 10 games.
Kikuchi (3-5) allowed one earned run and four hits over his 89-pitch outing. He had six strikeouts and walked a batter.
Yimi Garcia gave up a two-run homer to pinch-hitter Ryan O’Hearn in the ninth inning before retiring pinch-hitter Kyle Stowers for his fourth save.
Adley Rutschman hit a pair of homers for the Orioles, who have dropped two straight but have still won 10 of their last 14 games. Toronto outhit Baltimore 7-6.
Left-hander Cade Povich (0-1) made his big-league debut for the Orioles (39-22) and showed no sign of nerves with two hitless innings out of the gate.
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He ran into trouble in the third after issuing walks to Clement and Danny Jansen. Guerrero drove them in with his seventh homer of the year.
Toronto used back-to-back flares to tack on another run in the fourth. Right-fielder Anthony Santander and two infielders fought the sun as they converged on a ball off Daulton Varsho’s bat that dropped in for a double.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa followed by lifting a ball that landed in virtually the same spot. That allowed Varsho — who was running on contact with two out — to scamper home.
Rutschman put Baltimore on the board in the sixth inning with a rainbow shot that landed in the first row of seats in left field.
The Blue Jays chased Povich in the bottom half of the frame after Turner hit a one-out single and Varsho walked. With Dillon Tate on the mound, Kiner-Falefa moved the runners over with a groundout and Clement drove them in with a single.
Povich, who threw 100 pitches, was charged with six earned runs. He gave up five hits, walked a pair and had two strikeouts.
Nate Pearson worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning for Toronto.
Zach Pop, a native of Brampton, Ont., gave up a two-run shot to Rutschman in the eighth. It was his 12th homer of the year.
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Announced attendance was 39,215 and the game took two hours 26 minutes to play.
GETTING CLOSER
Blue Jays manager John Schneider said right-hander Yariel Rodriguez had a “really good” outing for Triple-A Buffalo on Wednesday night as he builds up for a potential return to the big leagues.
Rodriguez has been on the injured list since April 30 due to thoracic spine inflammation. He struck out four batters and did not allow a hit over three scoreless innings.
COMING UP
The Blue Jays will kick off a six-game road trip on Friday night at Oakland. Chris Bassitt (6-6, 4.13 ERA) is scheduled to start for Toronto against fellow right-hander Luis Medina (0-0, 0.00).
The Orioles will continue their road swing with a four-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2024.
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© 2024 The Canadian Press