Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Steward Berroa makes a diving catch on a fly ball hit by Arizona Diamondbacks' Gabriel Moreno during the ninth inning of a baseball game on July 14 in Phoenix.Ross D. Franklin/The Associated Press
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a go-ahead solo homer, Kevin Kiermaier added a grand slam and the Toronto Blue Jays recovered from blowing a seven-run lead to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-7 on Sunday.
Guerrero’s homer in the seventh came off reliever Kevin Ginkel (6-2), who had his scoreless streak of 10 2/3 innings snapped. The Blue Jays avoided a sweep after dropping the first two games of the series.
Guerrero and Ernie Clement each had three hits. Genesis Cabrera, Trevor Richards (2-1), Ryan Burr, Brendon Little and Chad Green combined to throw 4 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.
Green earned his sixth save, working around Christian Walker’s two-out single.
The D-backs trailed 7-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth before a seven-run eruption, highlighted by Ketel Marte’s grand slam and Eugenio Suárez’s tying, two-run single. Toronto’s Yusei Kikuchi gave up all seven runs.
Marte’s homer left his bat at 109.8 mph and travelled 443 feet, hitting the batter’s eye high above the centre-field wall. The all-star second baseman had three hits.
The Blue Jays tagged Arizona ace Zac Gallen for seven runs, including six earned, over 3 2/3 innings.
Toronto appeared to take an insurmountable lead in the fourth, scoring six runs for a 7-0 advantage. Guerrero, Danny Jansen, Daulton Varsho and Clement started the inning with four straight singles before Leo Jiménez drew a walk to load the bases. Up next was Kiermaier, who turned on the first pitch he saw and launched it into the right-field seats.
It was Kiermaier’s fourth homer of the season.
Gallen has struggled over his last three starts, giving up 15 earned runs over 13 innings. He gave up nine hits and a walk on Sunday, striking out one.
Kikuchi cruised through his first four innings before major trouble in the fifth. Jake McCarthy was the first batter of the inning, reaching on an infield single after Guerrero’s throw to Kikuchi sailed behind the pitcher as he tried to cover first base.
Kikuchi appeared slightly shaken up after the play and could never recover. He was taken out after facing 10 batters in the fifth. The left-hander gave up the seven runs on six hits and three walks over 4 2/3 innings, striking out six.
The Blue Jays took advantage of an error by Arizona shortstop Geraldo Perdomo in the second inning to take a 1-0 lead. Varsho led off with a triple down the right-field line and then scored when Perdomo couldn’t handle Clement’s ground ball.
Toronto manager John Schneider was ejected in the seventh by home plate umpire Gabe Morales for arguing about Varsho’s check swing that was called a strike.
Blue Jays play host to Detroit on Friday night.