Springer homers again for surging Blue Jays
George Springer homered for the second straight day, Santiago Espinal hit his first career home run and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-3 Saturday at Buffalo, New York.
The Blue Jays won for the 10th time in 13 games. Tampa Bay has lost five straight overall and 10 in a row on the road.
Espinal, who entered the game with a .283 average in 71 career games, connected for a two-run drive off reliever Matt Wisler to cap a five-run sixth inning that made it 6-1.
It was 1-all when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. doubled in the sixth and later scored on a throwing error by third baseman Joey Wendle. Cavan Biggio hit a two-run single and Espinal homered, prompting the Blue Jays dugout to explode with excitement.
“This one I’ll remember forever,” Espinal said.
Espinal said he couldn’t recall his last professional home run. In fact, it came on Aug. 27, 2019, for the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons at the same Sahlen Field that is currently Toronto’s home park.
“I was excited to see my teammates pumped up. It was an awesome moment. To be in the lineup with a lot of talented players, it’s a special one,” he said.
Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo agreed.
“It was actually one of the best moments of the year,” Montoyo said. “The situation, with who we’re playing and who did it. Everybody loves Espy. He works every day, and he was a big part of this win.”
Rays manager Kevin Cash chalked up the rally as an unfortunate turn of events.
“I thought Wisler threw the ball really good,” Cash said. “He got some weak groundballs that we unfortunately couldn’t convert into outs, then Espinal comes up and hits the big home run. We felt good about the matchups. It just didn’t go our way.”
Adam Cimber (2-2) got the win in support of Ryan Stripling, who allowed two hits and three walks in 5 2⁄
3 innings with five strikeouts.
Manuel Margot homered and Kevin Kiermaier had a two-run single in the ninth for Tampa Bay. The Rays’ road losing streak is the sixth in team history of 10 or more games, and their first since a 10-game skid in 2016.
“We’re all frustrated,” Cash said. “It’s a winning group that sticks together really, really well and we’re in a tough patch.”
Springer led off the second inning with his fifth homer, going deep on a first-pitch fastball from Shane McClanahan (3-3).
Springer, signed to a six-year, $150 million contract by Toronto in the winter, has missed most of the season with injuries and is batting .245 in 14 games.
“Having George Springer in the lineup makes a big difference,” Montoyo said. “That’s what everybody was expecting at the beginning, but he missed
21⁄ months.”
2
Margot led off the fourth with his ninth homer.
McClanahan struck out five and allowed three hits and two walks over 5 1⁄
3
innings.
A Tigers 11, White Sox 5: Eric Haase hit a threerun, inside-the-park homer and later cleared the fence for another three-run drive, as host Detroit snappedChicago’s five-game winning streak.
The Tigers trailed 2-0 in the fourth inning when Jonathan Schoop and Miguel Cabrera drew walks from Dallas Keuchel (6-3). Haase hit a sinking liner that bounced past diving center fielder Billy Hamilton and rolled to the wall as the runners circled the bases.
Haase’s inside-the-park homer was the first by a Tigers player since JaCoby Jones hit one last Aug. 10 against the White Sox. The six RBI were a career-high for Haase, who has four multi-homer games this season.
A Royals 6, Twins 3: Hunter Dozier drove in three runs and Edwards Oliveras hit a two-run shot, helping host Kansas City beat U.S. Air Force captain Griffin Jax and scuffling Minnesota. The Royals’ back-to-back wins over Minnesota have come on the heels of a nine-game losing streak. The Fourth of July weekend wasn’t kind to Jax (1-1), the first draft pick ever from the Air Force Academy. In his first career start and fifth big league appearance, the righty allowed six runs on eight hits and three walks while striking out three.
Trevor Larnach homered in the eighth for Minnesota, which has lost the first five games of its six-game road trip.
INTERLEAGUE
A Mets 8, Yankees 3: Taijuan Walker took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, Brandon Nimmo provided a spark in his return from the injured list and the Mets beat the crosstown Yankees to open a three-game set.
The Mets already led 8-0 when Aaron Judge homered with one out in the sixth to end Walker’s bid for the record-tying eighth nohitter in the majors this season. He was lifted after 5 2/3 innings having allowed two runs, two hits and two walks, striking out five on 106 pitches.
The right-hander’s ERA rose slightly to 2.44 during a breakout season after signing a $23 million, three-year free agent contract in February. The Mets are pushing for the 28-year-old to be a first-time All-Star when rosters are revealed Sunday.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
A Reds 3, Cubs 2: Joey Votto and Tyler Naquin homered, the Cincinnati bullpen pitched four scoreless innings and the host Reds beat handed Chicago its eighth straight loss. The Reds hopped over the
Cubs into second place in the NL Central, behind the Milwaukee Brewers.