Bo Bichette hit his second career grand slam, right-hander Ross Stripling pitched six effective innings and the visiting Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Chicago White Sox 9-5 on Wednesday afternoon.
Teoscar Hernandez hit a two-run homer and Alejandro Kirk added a solo shot for the Blue Jays, who salvaged the finale of the three-game series after dropping the first two.
Stripling (4-2) allowed one run, five hits and one walk with five strikeouts.
Chicago right-hander Luis Giolito (4-4) allowed seven runs, 11 hits and one walk in five innings with three strikeouts.
Santiago Espinal walked and Bichette singled to start the first inning and Kirk hit a one-out RBI single.
Chicago shortstop Danny Mendick, who had singled in the first inning, left the game with a knee injury in the top of the second when he collided with left fielder Adam Haseley. White Sox right fielder Adam Engel left the game after the third inning with a hamstring injury.
Kirk hit his eighth home run with two out in the third.
Toronto scored five runs in the fourth. Matt Chapman doubled and scored on Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s single. Gabriel Moreno and Espinal singled before Bichette hit his 11th home run of the season to clear the bases and give the Blue Jays a 7-0 lead.
The White Sox’s Josh Harrison led off the bottom of the sixth with a single and scored on Luis Robert’s two-out single.
Matt Foster replaced Giolito and had a perfect sixth before allowing Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s single and Hernandez’s seventh homer of the season in the seventh as Toronto went on top 9-1.
Chicago’s Jake Burger tripled and Reese McGuire singled for an RBI against David Phelps in the bottom of the seventh.
Chicago loaded the bases against Adam Cumber in the eighth on two singles and a walk. Burger had an RBI infield hit and AJ Pollock stroked an RBI single. Another run scored on Espinals’ error on Haseley’s grounder to second. Trent Thornton retired the final two batters of the inning.
Tim Mayza pitched around a single in the ninth.
Toronto center fielder George Springer (elbow) did not play.
Toronto hitting coach Guillermo Martínez was ejected before the game when lineups were exchanged with umpires at home plate.
–Field Level Media
