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Blue Jays hit three homers, Gausman shines as Toronto dumps Boston Red Sox 7-2

Jun 27, 2022 | 8:19 PM

TORONTO — George Springer, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Matt Chapman homered to power the Toronto Blue Jays to a 7-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Monday night at Rogers Centre.

Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman worked seven shutout innings as Toronto used a 10-hit attack to end Boston’s winning streak at seven games. 

Springer and Guerrero went deep in Toronto’s three-run third inning and Chapman ended Boston starter Connor Seabold’s night with a two-run shot in the fifth. 

Bo Bichette and Teoscar Hernandez chipped in with two hits apiece.

The game kicked off an eight-game homestand for the Blue Jays against American League East division foes. Toronto (41-32) moved a half-game behind the second-place Red Sox (42-32), who have dropped just three of their last 14 games. 

The Blue Jays will play a rare five-game series later this week — including a Saturday doubleheader — against the Tampa Bay Rays, who are a half-game behind Toronto in the standings.

Springer drew a leadoff walk in the first inning and scored on a Bichette double. The ball curled into foul territory down the left-field line and took an unusual bounce off the wall padding, allowing Springer to score without a throw.

Gausman (6-6), who had lost his last three decisions, retired the first eight batters in order before allowing a seeing-eye single to Bobby Dalbec.

Springer hit a solo shot in the third inning for his 14th homer of the season. Bichette singled and Guerrero followed with his team-leading 18th homer, which had a game-high exit velocity of 108.2 miles per hour.

Chapman’s blast was his 11th homer of the season. Seabold (0-1) allowed seven earned runs, nine hits and a walk over 4 2/3 innings while striking out seven. 

The Red Sox had no answer for Gausman, who allowed four hits and two walks. Boston managed just one extra-base hit, a fluke double by Rafael Devers in the sixth inning that caromed off the side of second base before bouncing into left field.

The right-hander, who earned his first win since May 31, capped his appearance by fanning Dalbec for his 10th strikeout. 

David Phelps threw a clean eighth inning and Shaun Anderson gave up two runs in the ninth before getting Rob Refsnyder to fly out with two runners on to end it. 

Announced attendance was 25,498 and the game took two hours 59 minutes to play.

CAPTAIN KIRK

Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk remains in third place among American League players in voting for next month’s all-star game. 

Kirk had 1,857,670 votes in the latest AL voting update Monday from Major League Baseball. He trails Yankees star Aaron Judge (2,433,088) and Angels slugger Mike Trout (2,134,471). 

Guerrero leads the voting at first base (1,624,228), Bichette leads at shortstop (1,084,794) and Springer holds the third outfield slot (1,048,403).

ROSTER MOVES

Before the game, the Blue Jays optioned right-hander Jeremy Beasley to Triple-A Buffalo and selected Anderson to the major-league roster.

Anderson was 2-1 with a 3.91 earned-run average over 14 appearances for the Bisons this season. The Blue Jays also transferred left-hander Hyun Jin Ryu (elbow) to the 60-day injured list.

COMING UP

Both teams have right-handed starters lined up for the rest of the series. Ross Stripling (4-2, 3.08) is tabbed for Tuesday night against Boston’s Michael Wacha (6-1, 2.34).

Blue Jays ace Alek Manoah (9-2, 2.05) is scheduled to start Wednesday’s finale against Nick Pivetta (8-5, 3.25).

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 27, 2022. 

Follow @GregoryStrongCP on Twitter.

Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press