The Toronto Blue Jays scored three runs with two out in the eighth inning to overtake the host Los Angeles Angels on their way to a 6-5 victory Saturday night in Anaheim, Calif.
Mike Trout’s two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh gave the Angels a 4-3 lead, but their bullpen couldn’t hold it.
Angels reliever Kyle Barraclough (0-1) walked the first two batters to begin the eighth, then got Danny Jansen on a flyout that Angels left fielder Brandon Marsh caught at the wall for the first out of the inning.
Left-hander Aaron Loup entered the game and struck out Lourdes Gurriel Jr. for the second out, but Matt Chapman followed with a sinking line drive to right-center, where right fielder Juan Lagares tried to make a shoestring catch.
Lagares was unable to make the catch, and when second baseman Luis Rengifo couldn’t handle the cutoff throw for an error, Teoscar Hernandez was able to score all the way from first. Chapman, who was credited with a double, took third on the play, then scored on a double by Raimel Tapia, giving the Blue Jays a 6-4 lead.
Toronto closer Jordan Romano, however, couldn’t finish it off. He gave up an RBI single to Marsh with two out in the bottom of the ninth to make it 6-5, and when he walked pinch hitter Taylor Ward to load the bases, he was replaced by Ross Stripling. Stripling, though, was able to end it, getting Andrew Velazquez on a comebacker.
Reliever Adam Cimber (5-2) got the victory for Toronto.
Angels third baseman Matt Duffy, subbing for the injured Anthony Rendon, had four hits. Trout reached base four times with the homer, two singles and a hit by pitch.
The Blue Jays took the lead against Angels starter Michael Lorenzen in the first inning after Bo Bichette doubled with one out. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. followed with a double to drive in Bichette for a 1-0 lead.
Blue Jays starter Yusei Kikuchi held the Angels scoreless until the fifth, when the Angels scored on an RBI double by Duffy and an RBI groundout by Jared Walsh to take a 2-1 lead.
Lorenzen held the lead until the seventh, when the Blue Jays rallied. Cavan Biggio’s two-out RBI double tied the game at 2-2, sending Lorenzen to the bench. Archie Bradley replaced Lorenzen and gave up a pinch-hit, RBI single to Alejandro Kirk — the run charged to Lorenzen — as Toronto took a 3-2 lead.
Lorenzen gave up three runs on five hits and two walks in 6 2/3 innings. Kikuchi gave up two runs on nine hits with a walk and two strikeouts in five innings.
–Field Level Media
