ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Lourdes Gurriel Jr. didn’t have his best performance on the court. He came to the plate when we needed him most, though.
What kind of summed up the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night.
Gurriel made one of Toronto’s three errors, but his ninth-inning single helped Alejandro Kirk score the game-winning run as the Blue Jays rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.
The Angels only had the error, but it was expensive. Gurriel lined up a hit to right field to move Kirk to third, and he scored when Juan Lagares misplayed the ball and bounced it off his glove.
“I thought it was going to be tough for Kirk to score on that, but once I saw he missed it I knew we had a good chance to score right there,” said Guriel.
Gurriel had three hits and threw a run, while Kirk had two hits. Kirk started the ninth with a single to center against Raisel Iglesias (1-3) and advanced to second on a sacrificial bunt, setting the table for Gurriel.
Errors for the Blue Jays included a Gurriel throwing error on a Mike Trout brace, but they managed to get their seventh win in the last 10 games.
“We didn’t play well defensively early on, but we made the right moves and the throw was good,” manager Charlie Montoyo said.
Jared Walsh and Tyler Wade homered for the Angels, who missed injured Shohei Ohtani and Anthony Rendon from the starting lineup. Wade was in the lineup at third base in Rendon’s absence.
Ohtani came on as a batter in the ninth but was retired by Jordan Romano, who earned his 15th save. Trevor Richards (2-0) picked up the win.
Toronto starter Alek Manoah hit a season-high nine but allowed three runs on seven hits, including two home runs. With a fastball-slider combination, the right-hander had Angels hitters swing and miss 19 times.
“The game plan the last two outings has been to sideline the guys with the slider. I fired a few, but overall the game plan worked,” he said.
Los Angeles’ Chase Silseth went 4 1/3 innings and had two runs on six hits. The Angels have lost three straight.
“We’re just not meeting our standards right now,” manager Joe Maddon said. “They got us in the end and they beat some of our best relief pitchers.”
Bo Bichette of Toronto started the second inning with a brace in the corner of right field. He went third on Teoscar Hernandez’s hit and scored when Kirk dug in on a double play.
The Angels responded late in the inning when Andrew Velazquez’s bloop single off the left field line led to Luis Rengifo tying it at 1. Rengifo came on board when he lined up a hit to center and advanced to the second when Raimel Tapia rolled it. between his legs for a mistake.
Walsh hit his 10th homer in the third inning when he hit a Manoah substitution that barely cleared the wall at center. Toronto led the fifth with three straight hits, including an RBI brace from Gurriel to tie it at 2-all.
Los Angeles regained the lead in the half on Wade’s solo shot to the right. It was Wade’s first homer since Sept. 26, 2020, when he was with the New York Yankees.
Toronto tied the game in the seventh on an RBI single from hitter Matt Chapman.
BARELY
Tapia was at third base with one out at fifth when George Springer hit a line drive that was foul but hit Tapia in the leg. After being reviewed by coaches, Tapia stayed in the game before being lifted for a pinch hitter in the seventh inning.
TOO STRATEGIC?
Toronto had four outfielders on most of Trout’s at-bats, with second baseman Cavan Biggio moving to right field. Trout made them pay with a brace down the left field line in the fifth inning.
Left fielder Gurriel threw the ball to second but no one covered, allowing Trout to advance to third on error. Trout appeared to give the Angels a 4-2 lead when he scored on a defenseman’s pick, but the replay overruled the call and ruled Bichette’s throw to Kirk made it in time.
Montoyo said after the game that first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. should have followed Trout to second to make sure the base was covered.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Blue Jays: LHP Tayler Saucedo (right hip discomfort) continued his pitching progress passing from 120 feet.
Angels: Ohtani was out of lineup with back pain. …Rendon had an MRI of his right wrist after he felt increased pain.
NEXT
Blue Jays: LHP Yusei Kikuchi (2-1, 3.47 ERA) held opposing hitters to a .111 batting average in four starts in May.
Angels: RHP Michael Lorenzen (5-2, 3.05 ERA) has won his last two starts. He pitched six three-hit innings in his last outing on May 14 against Oakland.
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