Kevin Kiermaier drove in the last of his five runs with a 10th-inning double that broke a 10-10 tie, and the Toronto Blue Jays held on for a 12-11 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday afternoon in Anaheim, Calif.
The RBIs were the first for Kiermaier since July 6, 2022, when he played for the Tampa Bay Rays. Hip surgery subsequently ended his season, and he had yet to drive in a run.
On Sunday, he drove in two with a triple in the sixth and two more with a single in the seventh.
Kiermaier scored on George Springer’s single to make it 12-10 before the Angels threatened in the bottom of the inning. Los Angeles loaded the bases with two outs for Mike Trout, who walked to drive in a run.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider then removed right-handed reliever Trevor Richards in favor of lefty Tim Mayza to face Shohei Ohtani.
Mayza got ahead in the count 0-2 before inducing a routine grounder from Ohtani to second to end it.
Mayza, one of seven Blue Jays relievers, earned his first save of the season. Jordan Romano (1-0) picked up the win despite allowing three runs in the ninth inning. Angels reliever Carlos Estevez (0-1) took the loss.
Home runs by Hunter Renfroe, Ohtani and Logan O’Hoppe helped the Angels take a 6-0 lead into the sixth inning. Angels starting pitcher Reid Detmers was sharp through five innings before the Blue Jays scored 10 runs over the next two innings against Detmers and the Angels’ bullpen.
Matt Chapman’s grand slam got the comeback started in the sixth, and Kiermaier’s two-out, two-run triple later in the inning against Angels reliever Andrew Wantz tied the game at 6.
The Blue Jays scored four more in the seventh to take a 10-6 lead, but the Angels got a solo homer from Brandon Drury in the eighth and scored three more in the ninth to tie the game at 10-10.
Renfroe and Gio Urshela each had three hits for the Angels, while Chapman and Kiermaier both had three hits and five RBIs for Toronto.
Toronto took two of three games in the weekend series.
–Field Level Media
