Guardians hit three home runs in win over Blue Jays

After dropping two games the day before, the Cleveland Guardians needed to get back on track as soon as possible. It appears that a change of venue helped their cause as their trip north of the border started successfully, taking down the Toronto Blue Jays by a score of 5-2.

An excellent pitching performance from Tanner Bibee helped Cleveand's cause. The current ace of the rotation limited Toronto to two runs on six hits in 6 innings. Bibee also struck out five while walking just one. Both of the Blue Jays' runs came via a solo homer. A George Springer solo shot in the 2nd and a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homer in the 6th accounted for both of Toronto's runs in the game.

While the Blue Jays were able to have their runs come via stars in their lineup, most of Cleveland's runs came from some unexpected sources. Bo Naylor, returning to Canada for the first time as a major leaguer, tied the game at 1 in the 3rd inning following Springer's home run in the previous half inning. The long ball from Naylor was only the beginning of Cleveland's offensive output.

Ramon Laureano, of all people, did most of the damage for the Guardians. A two-run homer in the 4th gave Cleveland the lead, while an RBI double would see the lead increase to 3 in the 6th inning.

Cleveland second baseman Andres Gimenez would add another home run in the 8th after Vladdy Jr. cut into the Guardians lead in the 7th. The solo shot from Gimenez was the fifth and final run scored by the Guardians.

Emmanuel Clase would come on for the 9th and was able to shut the door despite allowing Daulton Varsho to reach on a throwing error. Clase would strike out Matt Chapman in the next at-bat and induce a groundout off the bat of Alejandro Kirk to end the game. This was Clase's MLB-leading 34th save of the season and 101st in his career, 100 of which have come with Cleveland.

The Guardians still sit six games back of the American League Central division-leading Minnesota Twins. Hopefully, Cleveland can keep winning in Toronto, and Texas can get back in the win column and hand the Twins a loss or two.