Kiermaier, Bichette homer in Blue Jays’ 3-1 win over Twins

MINNEAPOLIS — Kevin Kiermaier and Bo Bichette homered in a three-run third, Kevin Gausman received for the primary time in additional than month and the slumping Toronto Blue Jays beat the Minnesota Twins 3-1 on Friday evening.

Gausman (3-3) allowed a run and struck out eight over 5 1/3 innings for his first victory since April 23. Jordan Romano labored the ninth for his eleventh save.

“It was a huge win for sure,” stated Gausman, whose group had misplaced 9 of its final 1 – all towards AL East groups. “Any time you beat good teams in close ballgames, I feel like the momentum can help more than necessarily scoring 15 and winning by 14 or something.”

Kiermaier obtained the scoring began along with his fourth house run of the season, a solo shot to proper area with two outs within the third. George Springer adopted along with his second double of the sport and scored on Bichette’s tenth house run, a 424-foot blast to straightaway heart.

“He’s really unique,” Toronto supervisor John Schneider stated about Bichette. “It’s really good bat-to-ball skills. He very rarely is off the barrel. … He’s really been consistent all year. It’s a pretty unique skill set he’s got.”

Louie Varland (2-1) pitched six innings for the Twins.

PHOTOS: Kiermaier, Bichette homer in Blue Jays’ 3-1 win over Twins

Minnesota’s slumping lineup scratched out simply 5 hits and was unable to reap the benefits of 9 walks. The Twins stranded 13 runners on base, their season excessive for a nine-inning sport.

“It’s tough. It seems like we’re almost in every game, but we can’t finish it,” Minnesota shortstop Carlos Correa stated. “This speaks about the team. We have a really good team, we just haven’t been able to put those clutch hits together in order to give our pitchers comfortable leads. There’s still a lot of season left, but we’ve got to turn it on here pretty soon.”

Gausman cruised by 5 innings earlier than his management deserted him within the sixth. Alex Kiriloff and Edouard Julien drew walks, and Kyle Garlick’s RBI double spelled the tip for Gausman.

Reliever Erik Swanson walked pinch-hitter Joey Gallo on 4 pitches to load the bases, however he struck out Michael A. Taylor and retired Donovan Solano on a groundout to finish the risk.

TRUE NORTH HEADS SOUTH

Blue Jays followers usually journey nicely to observe Canada’s solely MLB group after they play in northern cities. But with excellent climate forecast for this vacation weekend, there seemed to be as a lot royal blue within the stands cheering for Toronto as there was Minnesota’s navy blue.

“When I got the first out in the first inning, everybody was losing their minds, so it was pretty cool,” Gausman stated. “That’s what’s unique about playing for the Blue Jays. I’m sure if you went and talked to a lot of those fans, this is the only time they come and see us play, maybe, every summer. Same way in Seattle and Detroit. Such a unique opportunity we have, one team playing for an entire country.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: C Danny Jansen was positioned on the 10-day IL with a strained groin. C Tyler Heineman was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo to take his place.

Twins: Correa returned to the lineup after lacking the final two video games with soreness in his left foot.

UP NEXT

Blue Jays: RHP Chris Bassitt (5-3, 3.03 ERA) will face the Twins on Saturday afternoon. In his final outing, Bassitt’s 28-inning scoreless streak was snapped by the Rays in a 6-4 loss.