TORONTO (AP) 鈥� Addison Barger and Alejandro Kirk hit two-run home runs, Kevin Gausman matched a season high by striking out 10 and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Los Angeles Angels 8-2 on Sunday to complete a sweep of the seven-game season series.
鈥淣ot easy to sweep anyone at any time of the year,鈥� Blue Jays manager John Scheider. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a good feeling for the young guys, for everyone really. It鈥檚 nice to go out and play good baseball.鈥�
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. reached base four times and drove in a pair of runs as the Blue Jays won for the 11th time in 13 meetings with Los Angeles. Guerrero had two hits and the Angels intentionally walked him twice.
Toronto swept a series for the fourth time this season. The Angels were the opponent the last time the Blue Jays swept a four-game series. That happened at 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 of 16.
鈥淯p until today, I think our pitching has been holding their own,鈥� Angels manager Ron Washington said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just that we haven鈥檛 been able to support them with runs.鈥�
Barger homered off right-hander Hunter Strickland in the sixth inning and Kirk extended Toronto鈥檚 lead by connecting off lefty Matt Moore in the seventh. It was the fifth homer of the season for both.
Kirk鈥檚 homer came after Guerrero drew his second free pass.
鈥淚f I get beat in that situation it鈥檚 going to have to be Kirk, and he did it,鈥� Washington said.
Barger went 2 for 3 with a walk and homered for the second time in the series. His ninth-inning shot on Friday gave Toronto a 5-4 win.
Gausman (12-9) pitched seven innings to win for the sixth time in eight starts. He allowed one run and two hits and didn鈥檛 walk a batter.
鈥淗e just had Kevin Gausman stuff,鈥� Schneider said. 鈥淲hen his velo is there and he鈥檚 getting ahead of hitters, he鈥檚 pretty tough.鈥�
Gausman retired the first nine batters he faced and ended his outing by setting down 12 in a row.
鈥淗e鈥檚 no easy guy to try to figure out,鈥� Washington said. 鈥淗e just kept using his experience against our youth.鈥�
Gausman, who recently taught his splitter to teammate Bowden Francis, said he was paying close attention Saturday when Francis beat the Angels by striking out a career-high 12 over eight innings and taking a no-hitter into the ninth.
鈥淕oing into the game knowing how well his split played yesterday, it was definitely a pitch I wanted to throw a lot,鈥� Gausman said. 鈥淚t definitely played against their lineup. I just kind of followed Bowden鈥檚 lead, to be honest. It was pretty special to watch him yesterday.鈥�
Kirk drove in the game鈥檚 first run in the third with a bases-loaded walk, but the Angels tied in the fourth when Taylor Ward hit a leadoff triple and scored on Zach Neto鈥檚 single.
Guerrero restored Toronto鈥檚 lead with a two-out RBI double off Angels left-hander Tyler Anderson in the fifth.
Anderson (10-12) allowed two runs and four hits in five innings. He walked four and struck out three.
TRAINER鈥橲 ROOM
Angels: Moore left because of a sore elbow after giving up Kirk鈥檚 homer. 鈥� OF Mickey Moniak returned after sitting out the past two games. Moniak left Thursday鈥檚 series opener in the third inning after being hit on the left elbow by a pitch.
UP NEXT
Angels: RHP Johnny Cueto (0-1, 4.26 ERA) is scheduled to make his second start of the season when LA visits Detroit on Tuesday. LHP Brant Hurter (1-1, 3.57) is set to go for the Tigers.
Blue Jays: Toronto visits Boston and on Monday afternoon resumes a June 26 game that was suspended in the second inning because of rain. The teams will play again Monday night. Neither Toronto nor Boston had named a pitcher for the suspended game. Blue Jays RHP Jos茅 Berr铆os (12-9, 3.79 ERA) is scheduled to face Boston RHP Nick Pivetta (5-8, 4.70) in the night game.
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AP MLB:
Ian Harrison, The Associated Press
