Blue Jays build early lead, take down Giants

Kevin Gausman made a successful return to San Francisco, Danny Jansen and Spencer Horwitz hit home runs and the Toronto Blue Jays took a second straight game over the host San Francisco Giants, winning 5-3 in the series finale Thursday afternoon.

Gausman (7-8) overcame a two-run home run by Heliot Ramos in the first inning to record a win in his first appearance at the site where he was a 2021 All-Star for the Giants before leaving as a free agent.

The right-hander shut out his old team after the first, finishing with just those two runs allowed on six hits over seven innings. He struck out three without walking a batter.

Zach Pop threw a 1-2-3 eighth inning and Chad Green pitched around a Mike Yastrzemski homer in the ninth for his fifth save, helping the Blue Jays rebound from an opening loss for a road-series win, just as they had in Seattle to start their nine-game Western swing.

Gausman pitched with a lead the entire way as the result of Toronto scoring three times in the top of the first off Jordan Hicks (4-6), who pitched for the Blue Jays last August and September before signing with the Giants in the offseason.

George Springer and Horwitz set the stage for the early eruption with game-opening singles. An RBI infield out by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and a sacrifice fly by Justin Turner made it 2-0, before Jansen launched his sixth homer, a solo shot that capped the three-run inning.

The Blue Jays tacked on single runs in the fourth, via Leo Jimenez's RBI single, and in the fifth, when Horwitz led off with his fourth homer of the year.

Hicks was pulled one out into the fifth, charged with five runs on eight hits. He walked one and struck out one.

Kevin Kiermaier joined Jansen and Horwitz with two-hit games for the Blue Jays, who outhit the Giants 10-7.

Ramos' homer was his 14th of the year. It also scored Patrick Bailey, who began his two-hit afternoon with an infield single.

Yastrzemski's homer, a solo shot that came with the Giants down to their final strike, was his eighth. He joined Bailey with two hits in the loss.

--Field Level Media