TORONTO (AP) — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a solo home run among his four hits, George Springer and Kazuma Okamoto also went deep and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-1 on Sunday.
Toronto began the day one game behind Cleveland in the race for the final AL wild card. Baltimore entered three games back.
The Orioles are 3-9 in September.
Dylan Cease (11-5) struck out nine while allowing one run and four hits in five innings. He’s 5-1 with a 2.12 ERA in 11 starts since the All-Star break.
Springer, Guerrero and Okamoto went back-to-back-to-back off Trevor Rogers in the fifth inning.
Guerrero came out for a curtain call after his ninth homer, a 350-foot drive that was his first at home this season. It came in Toronto’s 75th home game.
Springer’s homer was his 15th. Okamoto’s was his 32nd.
Guerrero singled in the first, doubled in the third and singled in the seventh.
Springer had four RBIs, adding a bases-clearing double off Cam Sanders in the ninth.
Okamoto’s homer gave him 85 RBIs, surpassing Eric Hinske’s 2002 Blue Jays rookie record.
Rogers (10-10) allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings.
Cease got himself in trouble in the first by loading the bases with two walks and a single. He fell behind 3-0 against Coby Mayo before throwing 12 consecutive strikes to get out of it, fanning Mayo, Samuel Basallo and Christian Encarnacion-Strand.
The first of those strikeouts was Cease’s 228th, beating the season-high mark he set with the White Sox in 2022.
Cease reached 236 strikeouts for the season. He reclaimed the AL lead from Cleveland’s Gavin Williams (228) and matched Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski for the majors’ lead.
Up next
Orioles: RHP Brandon Young (9-4, 3.71 ERA) is scheduled to start in New York on Monday against Mets RHP Jonah Tong (2-1, 4.80).
Blue Jays: RHP José Soriano (12-7, 3.48 ERA) is scheduled to start Monday against Detroit RHP Troy Melton (8-4, 2.42).
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Ian Harrison, The Associated Press
