TORONTO — For the first time since the opening series of the season, the Toronto Blue Jays can say they have some momentum.
Jesús Sánchez drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and added a pivotal two-run homer on Sunday to lift the Blue Jays to a 4-2 win over the Cleveland Guardians in front of 41,136 at Rogers Centre.
The victory improved Toronto to 12-15 and, for the first time this year, the club has won consecutive series.
The Blue Jays have spent April battling injuries and inconsistency but with a strong week that also included two encouraging wins over the Angels in Anaheim, there’s finally something tangible to build on.
There were plenty of positives spread throughout Sunday’s contest. Ernie Clement notched his MLB-leading 13th double to open to the game and scored on a single from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Clement sits third in the league with 36 hits and looks to have carried his October heroics into 2026.
Guerrero Jr. collected three hits on Sunday, Kazuma Okamoto continued his strong defensive showing at third base and Sánchez once again flashed his impressive power, blasting his fourth homer of the season and second during the weekend series against Cleveland.
With the scored tied, 2-2, Sánchez deposited a full-count slow curve from Guardians starter Slade Cecconi over the fence in right field to put the Blue Jays up for good.
Meanwhile, on the pitching side, Patrick Corbin produced a decent start but was picked up by some impressive work by the Blue Jays’ bullpen.
Corbin, making his fourth start of the season after signing with the club in April, allowed two runs on six hits over 4.2 innings and 84 pitches, walking two and striking out four. He left the game in the fifth after allowing a game-tying double to Angel Martinez but right-hander Braydon Fisher came in and prevented further damage.
Tyler Rogers contributed a scoreless frame, as did right-hander Jeff Hoffman, who pitched the eighth inning after being removed from the closer’s role.
Louis Varland, who’s replaced Hoffman in the ninth-inning role, tossed 30 pitches to record a save on Saturday and was called upon again on Sunday. The right-hander allowed a single to Chase DeLauter to open the ninth frame, but struck out two of the next three hitters to end the game.
The challenge for the Blue Jays now will be to continue building on their sudden momentum. They’ll get the chance to do so against a Boston Red Sox team that is seemingly in chaos.
The Red Sox fired manager Alex Cora and five coaches on Saturday night amidst a terrible start to the season. The club beat the Orioles on Sunday, though, to improve to 11-17 and will head to Toronto for a three-game set beginning Monday.