Justin Turner’s two homers help Blue Jays get by Royals
Posted April 30, 2024 6:09 am.
Last Updated April 30, 2024 6:14 am.
Justin Turner hit two home runs, and Danny Jansen added a solo shot of his own as the Toronto Blue Jays hung on to beat the Kansas City Royals 6-5 on Monday night.
Turner got Toronto on the board after they were down 2-0 early on with a two-run shot in his first at-bat. The veteran hitter would go deep again in the third inning, followed by a solo home run from Jansen.
Both teams would go back and forth by exchanging a few runs, courtesy of a Davis Schneider single and an RBI double from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Rookie Addison Barger recorded his first major league hit on a single in the sixth inning and scored.
Without closer Jordan Romano or setup man Yimi Garcia available, the Blue Jays called on Nate Pearson, who locked down the save and the win. The Jays were also resting shortstop Bo Bichette, who was out of the lineup on Monday.
Starter Yariel Rodriguez grinded through 3 2/3 innings and was lifted after two earned runs on 82 pitches. The Cuban right-hander walked three and struck out one. Reliever Genesis Cabrera picked up the win for Toronto, his first of the season. He pitched 1 1/2 innings and struck out two.
The Blue Jays have won two straight to follow a previous five-game losing streak. It’s the first game Toronto has scored over five runs since April 6 against the New York Yankees.
“It’s going to be different aspects of the team that are going to get us W’s,” said Turner.
“Sometimes the pitching is going to carry us. Sometimes, we’ve got to score more runs than them. That’s just the nature of the game and how it goes. [We] did a good job tonight of getting ahead, and the pitchers did a great job of stopping the bleeding when they had momentum, trying to build innings, and limiting them to one run. You’ve got to tip your cap to them for nailing it down.”
The Blue Jays will hand the ball to starter Jose Berrios on Tuesday night. The Royals will counter with southpaw Cole Ragans. First pitch will go at 7:07 p.m. ET, live on Sportsnet.
