The Toronto Blue Jays were back on the road this week, landing in Minnesota to face the Twins for a three-game series this weekend. The squad will also visit St. Louis and Philadelphia next week before returning home on June 17th. Toronto entered the Twins series having won six of their last seven games, sweeping the Athletics and taking two of three from the Phillies at the Rogers Centre.

Manager John Schneider was turning the game over to the bullpen to kick off the series, with right-hander Paxton Schultz getting the start in an opener capacity. He allowed a home run to Trevor Larnach in the first inning, giving Minnesota a quick 1-0 lead, and the Twins responded in the second inning by adding two more runs from a Christian Vazquez double, making it 3-0 early.

Toronto didn’t secure its first hit until the top of the fourth inning, with Addison Barger demolishing a high four-seam fastball from Bailey Ober over the right field wall, plating two runs (Vladimir Guerrero Jr. got on base via HPB). The shot left the bat at 105.5 MPH, giving Barger his fifth home run in his last seven games. The Blue Jays would add two more runs in the fifth inning thanks to a single from Ernie Clement, a double from Andres Gimenez, and a single from Bo Bichette that scored both runners.

Pitching-wise for the Jays, Eric Lauer took over for Schultz to start the third inning, and the southpaw went 2 1/3 innings and allowed just one hit and one walk in the span, striking out two. He, Mason Fluharty, Yariel Rodriguez, and Brendon Little all saw action in the bullpen contest, with Little being roughed up for two hits and one earned run to see his ERA rise to a ‘blistering’ 1.55, as the left-hander battled to get out of the inning (which included Twins pinch hitter Ryan Jeffers being ejected from the game).

For the Jays’ bats, George Springer added a solo home run in the sixth inning off an Ober sweeper, sending the breaking pitch over the centre field wall 435 feet. Alejandro Kirk would add an insurance run at the top of the eighth inning, scoring Guerrero from second base to make it 6-3.

Schneider would send out Jeff Hoffman to close out the contest, and the right-hander was able to lock down the save with three strikeouts and a walk, sending the Jays home with a win.

The Jays struck out just four times on the day, and Bichette, Guerrero, Barger, Kirk, Springer, Clement, and Gimenez all found their way into the hit column. Bichette and Barger both scored two runs apiece, while the shortstop was also thrown out trying to steal second base.

With this win, the Jays are 34-29 on the season and sit tied for a spot in the AL Wild Card alongside the Twins and the Tampa Bay Rays.

Tomorrow, the Jays will turn to Kevin Gausman while the Twins will counter with right-hander Chris Paddack, who owns a 3.58 ERA through 12 starts and has been firing lately, allowing just 10 earned runs through his last 43 innings/seven starts.