Addison Barger and Alejandro Kirk hit two-run home runs, Kevin Gausman struck out 10 batters, and the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Los Angeles Angels 8-2 on Sunday, completing a sweep of their seven-game season series.
“Not easy to sweep anyone at any time of the year,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “It’s a good feeling for the young guys, for everyone really. It’s nice to go out and play good baseball.”
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. reached base four times and drove in two runs as the Blue Jays won for the 11th time in 13 meetings with the Angels. Guerrero had two hits and was intentionally walked twice by the Angels.
Toronto swept a series for the fourth time this season. The Angels were the last team the Blue Jays swept in a four-game series, which happened in Los Angeles in May 2022.
Brandon Drury hit a solo home run for the Angels, his second of the season, but Los Angeles lost its fifth straight game and 13th out of the last 16.
“Up until today, I think our pitching has been holding their own,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. “It’s just that we haven’t been able to support them with runs.”
Barger homered off right-hander Hunter Strickland in the sixth inning, and Kirk added to Toronto’s lead with a home run off lefty Matt Moore in the seventh. Both homers were their fifth of the season.
Kirk’s home run came after Guerrero was intentionally walked for the second time. “If I get beat in that situation it’s going to have to be Kirk, and he did it,” Washington said.
Barger went 2 for 3 with a walk and homered for the second time in the series. His ninth-inning homer on Friday secured a 5-4 win for Toronto.
Gausman (12-9) pitched seven innings to earn his sixth win in eight starts. He gave up one run and two hits while not allowing any walks.
“He just had Kevin Gausman stuff,” Schneider said. “When his velo is there and he’s getting ahead of hitters, he’s pretty tough.”
Gausman retired the first nine batters he faced and ended his outing by getting 12 batters out in a row.
“He’s no easy guy to try to figure out,” Washington said. “He just kept using his experience against our youth.”
Gausman, who recently showed his splitter to teammate Bowden Francis, said he watched closely on Saturday when Francis struck out a career-high 12 batters and took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Angels.
“Going into the game knowing how well his split played yesterday, it was definitely a pitch I wanted to throw a lot,” Gausman said. “It definitely played against their lineup. I just kind of followed Bowden’s lead, to be honest. It was pretty special to watch him yesterday.”
Kirk drove in the first run of the game in the third inning with a bases-loaded walk, but the Angels tied it in the fourth when Taylor Ward hit a leadoff triple and scored on Zach Neto’s single.
Guerrero put Toronto back in the lead with a two-out RBI double off Angels left-hander Tyler Anderson in the fifth.
Anderson (10-12) gave up two runs and four hits in five innings. He walked four batters and struck out three.
