» Cavan Biggio collects first three hits in majors, including a homer.
TORONTO — Rookie Cavan Biggio grew up watching his Hall of Fame dad Craig hit home runs for the Astros.
On Sunday, father and son reversed roles.
Biggio had three hits, including his first career home run, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had four hits and homered for the third consecutive game as Toronto beat San Diego 10-1 to avoid a threegame sweep.
With his famous father and more than 10 other friends and family watching from the stands, Biggio got his first hit with a ground ball single through the right side in the second. He hit a solo home run into the fourth deck off lefthander Matt Wisler in the fourth and then added an RBI single in Toronto's four-run fifth.
“I've always wanted to do what my dad did, ever since a young age, and finally here we've kind of switched roles,” the younger Biggio said. “He's in the seats now, and I'm on the field. So that's pretty cool because it's everything I ever wanted.”
Recalled from Class AAA Buffalo on Friday along with Gurriel, Biggio had started 0-for-6 before his single.
“After I got that first hit, I felt like I could finally exhale and finally just play the game,” Biggio said. “It was a big relief.”
Biggio's big crowd was waiting for him as he left the clubhouse after the game, admiring a pair of souvenir balls from his milestone game.
The Blue Jays’ Justin Smoak hit two home runs — a two-run blast off Luis Perdomo in the fifth and a three-run drive off Adam Warren in the eighth. The homers were his 10th and 11th of the season.
Toronto, which came in having lost four in a row and 10 of their last 12 at home, finished with a season-high 17 hits.
Blue Jays rookie Vladimir Guerrero Jr. snapped an 0for-14 slump with a double in the first. He finished 3-for-5 — the second three-hit game of his brief career.
Manager Charlie Montoyo said he got chills watching Gurriel Jr. and Biggio go back-to-back in the fourth. Biggio, Gurriel Jr. and Guerrero Jr. combined to finish 10-for-13 with four RBIs.
“It felt like that's what's coming here,” Montoyo said. “That's the future.”
Biggio also turned an unassisted double play in the seventh, catching Manuel Margot's liner and stepping on second base to retire Austin Allen, who had strayed too far off the bag.
Gurriel had the first fourhit game of his career. He singled in the second, homered off Wisler immediately before Biggio's blast, doubled in the fifth, and singled in the seventh.