Blue Jays Beat Twins 5-2, Keep Pressure In AL Wild Card Race
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Danny Jansen hit a go-ahead, three-run homer, George Springer also went deep and the Blue Jays beat the Minnesota Twins 5-2 Sunday to maintain pressure in the AL wild-card race before heading to Toronto for their final homestand.
Toronto will enter the final week one game back for the second AL wild card. The New York Yankees and Boston were tied for the wild-card lead heading into their game on Sunday night.
Toronto won the final two games of the four-game series. The Blue Jays host three-game series against New York and Baltimore.
"We just have to win," said Toronto manager Charlie Montoyo. "I'm so proud of this team, to be where we are right now. They deserve all the credit."
Alek Manoah (8-2) won his third straight start, giving up two runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings with eight strikeouts and two walks. The rookie has 25 strikeouts in his last three outings.
Manoah and three relievers combined to strike out 15.
"You want to show up and you want to give the team a chance, because right now everything's a little stick," Manoah said. "You've got to go out there and compete and just understand what's at stake."
The Blue Jays head home to the Rogers Centre in Toronto, which was recently allowed to double the capacity for games. That means 30,000 fans will be there when the Blue Jays take on the Yankees in a pivotal series.
"I think everybody's excited for it," Jensen said. "We're going to play the big dogs, and we're going to play them at home in front of 30,000 fans. That's a huge thing, having those fans."
Griffin Jax (3-5) gave up four runs and six hits in five innings as the Twins lost their second in a row following a four-game winning streak.
"At every point, really, we felt like we were absolutely in the game," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said.
Jansen homered in the second after a pair of one-out bloop singles by Corey Dickerson to left and Santiago Espinal to center.
Jake Cave hit an RBI single in the bottom half.
Springer homered in the fifth, a drive that like Jansen's went into the bullpen in left-center field. Both players put on Toronto's home run jacket — the Blue Jays have hit a major league-high 248.
Springer's homer was his second in as many days after going homerless in 12 straight games.
Teoscar Hernández hit an RBI double in the eighth and leads the major leagues with 112 RBIs, including a big league high 64 since the All-Star break.
Byron Buxton homered in the fifth, his career-best 16th in just 55 games this season.
"He's been basically the best player in baseball for the time he's had on the field," Baldelli said of Buxton. "Buck's a great player. We see it every day when he's out here."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Blue Jays: LF Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who injured his right hand Tuesday, remains day-to-day. Montoyo said Gurriel has a large cut on his hand where he grips the bat. "We'll see how he is by Tuesday," Montoyo said.
Twins: RHP Joe Ryan, who was placed on the bereavement list on Saturday, is scheduled to return to the rotation Thursday when he'll start against the Detroit Tigers.
"We don't want him coming back and rushing him back into his start off of just playing catch while he's away," manager Rocco Baldelli said. "We want to make sure he's able to settle in, throw a bullpen at some point when he returns and be ready to go."
UP NEXT
Blue Jays: RHP Hyun Jin Ryu (13-9) appears likely to start against the Yankees and RHP Jameson Taillon (8-6, 4.41).
Twins: Minnesota opens a series Tuesday against Detroit.
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