Jose Berrios snapped his three-start winless streak, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. drove in three runs and the Toronto Blue Jays celebrated Canada Day by beating the Tampa Bay Rays 9-2 on Friday.
Playing at home amid national festivities for the first time since 2019, and decked out in a red camisole and special cap, the Blue Jays delighted 44,455 fans by earning their fourth win in five games.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. went 3-for-3 with a solo homer and walked. Cavan Biggio went 2-for-2 with a double and two walks, scoring twice.
Seven of Toronto’s 11 hits were extra-base hits.
Rays outfielder Brett Phillips pitched in the eighth inning for Tampa Bay. With pitches of about 65 mph, Phillips retired Guerrero who hit a grounder that ended in out to leave Biggio stranded at third base, who had doubled.
After allowing 14 runs in his last two starts, Berrios (6-4) looked better against the Rays. The right-hander gave up two on eight hits in five innings for his first win since June 10 at Kansas City.
Berrios is 4-0 with a 3.23 ERA in seven home starts and 2-4 with a 7.92 ERA in nine road starts. The defeated was Kluber (3-5).
For the Rays, Colombian Harold Ramírez 4-2 with a run scored and an RBI; Dominicans Wander Franco 5-1 and Vidal Bruján 1-0; Cuban Yandy Díaz 4-1 and Mexican Isaac Paredes 5-0.
For the Blue Jays, Cuban Lourdes Gurriel 3-3 with 3 runs scored and an RBI; the Dominicans Santiago Espinal 3-0 with a run scored and Vladimir Guerrero 5-1 with a run scored and three RBIs, Teoscar Hernández 4-1 and Raimel Tapia 4-1.
