TORONTO (AP) — Shea Langeliers hit a tiebreaking home run in the ninth inning and the Oakland Athletics beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 on Friday night to snap an eight-game losing streak.
Langeliers hit his ninth home run off Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano (3-3) as Toronto lost the opener of a three-game series against the team with the worst record in the majors.
Langeliers went 2 for 4 with two RBIs as the Athletics (20-58) became the last big league team to reach 20 wins and avoided falling 40 games below .500.
Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a three-run home run, his first of the season at his home ballpark, but Toronto didn’t score again after his third-inning drive.
Lucas Erceg (2-0) struck out all three batters he faced to earn the win, and Trevor May pitched around Guerrero’s leadoff double in the ninth for his fourth save in six chances as Oakland won for the first time since June 13 against Tampa Bay. That win over the Rays was the last in a seven-game streak for the Athletics.
Guerrero’s 434-foot home run snapped a 32-game drought this season. He hadn’t gone deep anywhere since a June 4 blast at Citi Field in a win over the Mets.
JJ Bleday hit his fifth home run and Langaliers had an RBI single as the Athletics jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first against Blue Jays right-hander Chris Bassitt. Oakland came in having scored three runs or fewer in seven of their previous eight games.
Toronto answered with a four-run third against Oakland right-hander James Kaprelian. Kevin Kiermaier got the Blue Jays on the board when he doubled and drove in Danny Jansen. Two outs later, Guerrero capped the inning with his 10th homer.
Bleday tied it with a sacrifice fly in the fifth after Bassitt hit ninth-hitter Conner Capel with a pitch to begin the inning.
Bassitt, who spent six seasons with Oakland, allowed four runs and five hits against his former team, in his third straight winless outing. He walked two and struck out four.
Kaprelian allowed four runs and six hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out eight.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Athletics: Capel was recalled from Triple-A after Oakland put OF Ramón Laureano on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to June 22, because of a fractured right hand. Laureano was hit by a pitch in a June 11 game at Milwaukee, but manager Mark Kotsay said X-rays did not reveal the fracture. After Laureano’s soreness persisted, an MRI revealed the injury.
Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette returned after sitting out Wednesday’s win at Miami because of a sore left thumb. It was the first game he missed this season.
MANOAH UPDATE
Blue Jays manager John Schneider said RHP Alek Manoah is “trending in the right direction” following a simulated game at Toronto’s spring training facility in Florida, but added there is still no timetable for the struggling starter to rejoin the rotation. An AL All-Star and Cy Young Award finalist last season when he went 16-7 with a 2.24 ERA in 31 starts, Manoah was demoted to the rookie-level Florida Complex League on June 6 after going 1-7 with a 6.36 ERA in 13 starts.
UP NEXT
RHP José Berríos (7-5, 3.64) starts for the Blue Jays on Saturday against Oakland LHP Hogan Harris (2-1, 4.45).
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