Bo Bichette delivered a pivotal performance with a solo home run and scored the game-winning run to help the Toronto Blue Jays secure a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday afternoon at Rogers Centre. The win extended Toronto’s current streak to eight games, marking their longest winning run of the season and improving their record to 52-38.
Bichette’s contributions came at crucial moments in the contest. After the Angels took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a two-out home run by Mike Trout, Bichette responded in the fourth by launching his 12th home run of the year to tie the game. Later in the sixth inning, he scored the go-ahead run when Davis Schneider drove a sharp single down the left-field line, pushing the Blue Jays ahead for good.
The game began with early offensive action from both teams. Trout’s home run gave Los Angeles a brief lead, and Taylor Ward added an RBI single in the fifth that brought in the tying run for the Angels after Toronto had taken a short-lived 2-1 advantage on Joey Loperfido’s RBI single in the fourth. Loperfido, making his season debut, drove in Bichette with two outs after the shortstop’s earlier solo homer.
Toronto’s starting pitcher, Kevin Gausman, delivered a solid outing. The right-hander worked 5 2/3 innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out nine. He escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fourth by inducing a 1-3 double play off the bat of Angels catcher Gustavo Campero.
On the mound for Los Angeles, Tyler Anderson fell to 2-6 on the season after giving up three runs on eight hits across five-plus innings. He issued two walks and struck out two in the loss.
Reliever Ryan Burr earned the win in his season debut for Toronto, working a scoreless frame following Gausman’s departure. Burr had been sidelined due to a right-shoulder injury and was activated ahead of Sunday’s contest. Jeff Hoffman notched his 22nd save with a clean ninth inning.
With the win, Toronto completed a perfect seven-game homestand for the first time since 1994. The Blue Jays now sit atop the American League East and have 52 wins with six games remaining before the All-Star break. Their franchise record for wins before the break is 53, set in 1985 and matched in 1992.
The Angels will return home Monday to host the Texas Rangers, with Yusei Kikuchi (3-6) scheduled to start. The Blue Jays will travel to Chicago for a series against the White Sox, with José Berríos (4-3) set to oppose Sean Burke (4-7) in the opener.