Toronto’s Bo Bichette rounds the bases following his solo home run in the fifth inning Monday night against Tampa Bay at Toronto. Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP
TORONTO — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his major league-leading 45th home run, Alek Manoah set a career high by pitching eight shutout innings, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Tampa Bay Rays 8-1 on Monday night.
Teoscar Hernandez had his first career five-hit game and Bo Bichette added a solo home run, his 24th, as the surging Blue Jays improved to 12-1 in September.
The AL East-leading Rays lost for the fourth time in five games and are 5-7 this month after going 21-6 in August.
Facing left-hander Adam Conley in the sixth, Guerrero lined a 3-1 pitch down the left-field line, breaking a tie with Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani for most home runs in the big leagues.
Toronto leads the majors with 232 home runs this year.
Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier climbed the wall to make a spectacular catch on Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s deep drive in the seventh.
Gurriel had three hits and two RBI, and Breyvic Valera added three hits and drove in three runs as the Blue Jays maintained their position atop the crowded AL wild-card chase. Toronto began the day tied with Boston, but the Blue Jays have played two fewer games than the Red Sox.
With 17 hits in all, it was another offensive outburst by the Blue Jays, who scored 22 runs against Baltimore on Sunday. That came one day after Toronto put up 22 runs in a doubleheader against the Orioles.
Manoah (6-2) allowed just one hit, walked none and struck out 10, one shy of his career best. He won for the first time since beating the Angels on Aug. 11, snapping a five-start winless streak.
The rookie right-hander was perfect until Joey Wendle singled on a two-strike fastball with two outs in the fifth. Manoah responded by striking out Taylor Walls to end the inning.
Rays outfielder Austin Meadows hit a home run off Trevor Richards in the ninth, his 25th.
Tampa Bay left-hander Ryan Yarbrough (8-5) allowed seven runs and 10 hits in 2 1/3 innings.
YANKEES 6, TWINS 5: NEW YORK — Aaron Judge hit a tying three-run homer off Alex Colome with two outs in the eighth inning, Gary Sanchez lined a winning single in the 10th, and the New York Yankees overcame a five-run deficit to beat the Minnesota Twins 6-5 Monday.
New York, its season spinning out of control in the last two weeks, won for just the fourth time in 16 games following a 13-game winning streak. It closed within a half-game of AL wild-card leaders Toronto and Boston with 18 games to play.
Gleyber Torres, who lost his shortstop job and was moved to second base, was the automatic runner on second under pandemic rules when Sanchez singled sharply with one out in the 10th off Ralph Garza Jr. (1-3). Torres scored standing up as the Yankees streamed out of the dugout.
Jorge Polanco and Miguel Sano hit two-run homers in the first inning, and Byron Buxton added a solo homer for a 5-0 lead in the third off rookie Luis Gil.
DJ LeMahieu began the comeback with a sacrifice fly in the sixth that Max Kepler caught with a leap against the right-field wall. Joey Gallo hit his 33rd homer, his eighth with the Yankees, in the seventh off Tyler Duffey.
Duffey walked pinch-hitter Anthony Rizzo leading off the eighth and Brett Gardner with two outs. Twins Manager Rocco Baldelli, taking issue with the calls of plate umpire Jeff Nelson, was ejected, and Colome relieved.
Judge, back in the lineup a day after leaving in the third against the Mets because of dizziness, sent a cutter to the opposite field in right for his 33rd homer. Catcher Ryan Jeffers set up low and away, and Colome left the pitch up and in.
Clay Holmes (5-1) pitched the 10th after Aroldis Chapman (6-4) stranded two runners when he retired Polanco on a flyout in front of the center-field warning track, part of four scoreless innings by the Yankees’ bullpen.
New York ended a six-game home losing streak, its longest in a decade.
The Yankees finished 6-1 against Minnesota this year. The Twins are 32-109 against New York since 2002, including the postseason, and have lost 21 of their last 23 games in the Bronx. Minnesota has dropped 4 of 5 overall and at 63-81 is assured of not finishing with a winning record.
Minnesota starter John Gant lasted just 12 pitches and two outs, leaving after straining his lower abdomen.
Yankees Manager Aaron Boone announced a lineup shakeup before the game, moving Torres from the shortstop job he had held since the start of the 2020 back to second base. Tyler Wade started at shortstop and was replaced there in the ninth by Gio Urshela, who likely will take over the position starting Tuesday at Baltimore.
Gil, pitching against the team that traded him to the Yankees in March 2018 for outfielder Jake Cave, gave up five runs and seven hits in six innings.
Minnesota arrived for the makeup of an Aug. 22 rainout after a 5-3 home loss to Kansas City and headed back to Minneapolis for a series opener against Cleveland.
Polanco put the Twins ahead with his career-best 30th home run, driving a change-up on Gil’s seventh pitch for the first extra-base hit off the 23-year-old right-hander in his big league career.
Sano homered on a fastball and Buxton went deep in the third, also on a fastball. His 11 homers are the most in a player’s first 21 games against the Yankees, three more than Prince Fielder from 2011-15 and Randal Grichuk from 2017-19.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
MARLINS 3, NATIONALS 0: Sandy Alcantara allowed one hit over eight sparkling innings and Miami won at Washington.
With two outs in the seventh, Josh Bell lined a single off the base of the right-field fence to end Alcantara’s no-hit bid. The right-hander then retired his next four batters, leaving with seven strikeouts and no walks after throwing 96 pitches.
Jesus Sanchez had a first-inning RBI single and Alex Jackson doubled home two runs in the ninth. Dylan Floro worked a one-hit ninth for his 11th save.
Alcantara (9-13) was perfect through five innings but Keibert Ruiz reached on second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s error to open the sixth.
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