Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Jays pull away late against O's

Myles Straw drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning and the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the visiting Baltimore Orioles 6-1 on Friday night.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was on base five times for the Blue Jays (85-62) with three hits and two walks (one intentional) and had an RBI in the opener of a three-game series.

The Orioles (69-78) were limited to three hits by six Toronto pitchers and also committed two errors.

Baltimore scored in the third against Toronto starter Chris Bassitt. Samuel Basallo led off with a double to left-center, took third on a groundout and scored on Jackson Holliday’s single to center.

The Blue Jays loaded the bases on three walks in the bottom of the third against Orioles starter Trevor Rogers. The left-hander worked out of the jam on Alejandro Kirk’s groundout.

Toronto tied the game in the fifth with an unearned run. Davis Schneider walked with two outs and scored when Guerrero’s single to center skipped past Colton Cowser for an error.

Ryan Borucki took over in the sixth from Bassitt, who allowed one run, two hits and one walk with six strikeouts in five innings. After two walks wrapped around a strikeout, Braydon Fisher (5-0) took over to end the inning on two line-drive outs.

Rogers left with left big toe discomfort after five innings in which he allowed one unearned run, three hits and a season-high four walks with six strikeouts.

Baltimore’s Dietrich Enns (3-3) took over in the sixth. Isaiah Kiner-Falefa reached second on an infield single to third and a throwing error by Emmanuel Rivera. He scored on Straw’s double to left-center.

Toronto scored again in the seventh. George Springer singled and took second on a groundout before Guerrero was intentionally walked. Shawn Dubin replaced Enns and struck out Kirk before Ernie Clement grounded an RBI single to left.

Toronto added three runs in the eighth. Straw reached on an infield hit, Springer walked and Daulton Varsho hit a two-run double that skipped over the glove of diving first baseman Ryan Mountcastle. Guerrero added an RBI single and was thrown out trying for a double.

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