Blue Jays feel right at home in Buffalo
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. keyed a career-best four-hit outing with his major league-leading 17th home run and the Toronto Blue Jays celebrated the return to their temporary Buffalo home with a 5-1 win over the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night.
The Blue Jays are unable to play in Toronto for a second straight season because of Canadian health restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
After opening the season 10-11 playing at their spring training site in Dunedin, Florida, the Blue Jays escaped the heat and humidity to return to Buffalo, where they went 17-9 last year and clinched their first playoff berth since 2016.
A year after fans weren’t allowed to attend games at Sahlen Field, home to their TripleA affiliate, the Blue Jays played before an announced crowd of 5,321.
Robbie Ray (3-2) allowed one run on six hits through six innings, and the nomadic Blue Jays picked up where they left off a year ago in their adopted home.
INDIANS 6, WHITE SOX 5 >> Reigning AL MVP Jose Abreu grounded out with the bases loaded to blunt a ninth-inning rally against closer James Karinchak, and Cleveland held off Chicago.
Shane Bieber (6-3) allowed two earned runs in seven innings, striking out seven to beat the AL Central-leading White Sox for the second time this season.
Austin Hedges’ two-run homer off Dylan Cease (3-2) landed on the porch in left field and gave the Indians a 5-3 lead in the fourth. And Harold Ramírez had two hits with two RBIs and a stolen base for Cleveland, which has won two in a row to pull within 2 1/2 games of Chicago.
ORIOLES 7, TWINS 4 >> Cedric Mullins got two hits, scored two runs and made a sensational catch in center field, helping Baltimore snap a 14-game losing streak.
Pedro Severino and Maikel Franco both homered for the Orioles, who also ended a 16game head-to-head skid against Minnesota. Baltimore’s Bruce Zimmermann (3-3) allowed two runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings, striking out a career-high seven.