Smoak, Hernandez go deep in Blue Jays’ 6-2 victory over Indians
TORONTO — Justin Smoak hit his team-leading 24th home run of the season as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Cleveland Indians, 6-2, on Sunday in American League baseball play.
Teoscar Hernandez also had a homer for the Blue Jays (65-78). Hernandez came out of the dugout in the fourth inning after Randal Grichuk left the game due to an injury.
Thomas Pannone (2-1) delivered a quality start for Toronto. He gave up two runs, four hits, two walks and two home runs over 6 1/3 innings.
Ken Giles (20) collected the save.
Francisco Lindor and Brandon Barnes homered for Cleveland (81-62).
Mike Clevinger (11-8) was solid on the mound despite the lack of run support from his team. He gave up three runs, four hits, two walks and one home run in six innings. Clevinger also struck out nine batters.
Smoak opened the scoring for the Blue Jays in the bottom of the first inning. He hit a two-run home run to right field which gave Toronto a 2-0 lead.
The Indians responded in the third inning. Lindor hit a solo shot to left field to cut Toronto’s lead to 2-1.
Later in the inning, Smoak would help restore Toronto’s two-run lead. He’d hit an RBI single which gave the Blue Jays a 3-1 advantage.
Grichuk left the game in the fourth inning when he collided with a security guard while trying to field a foul ball. Grichuk went face first into the guard’s stool and appeared to injure his nose. He was undergoing concussion protocol and received followup imaging to his face. Hernandez played in his place.
In the seventh inning, Brandon Barnes hit a solo homer to left field to cut Toronto’s lead to 3-2.
In the eighth inning, Toronto put the game out of reach when Hernandez hit a three-run homer to give the Blue Jays ahead 6-2. NOTE: The Blue Jays activated
Yangervis Solarte from the 10-day disabled list.