Field Level Media
Jul 7, 2023
Bo Bichette had four hits, Whit Merrifield smacked two solo home runs and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. drove in two runs as the visiting Toronto Blue Jays secured a doubleheader sweep of the Chicago White Sox with a 5-4 victory on Thursday.
Toronto, which collected seven hits in the 11th inning to win the opener, out-hit Chicago 16-9 in the nightcap. Matt Chapman, Danny Jansen, Cavan Biggio, and Guerrero added two hits apiece.
Guerrero's second hit, an RBI double in the seventh inning, provided the final margin. The Blue Jays earned a sweep of the three-game set to finish 6-0 against the White Sox this season.
Blue Jays starter Yusei Kikuchi allowed four runs and eight hits in five innings, with no walks and four strikeouts. Jay Jackson (1-1) retired all four batters he faced to earn the victory, and Nate Pearson allowed one hit in picking up a four-out save, his first save of the season.
Andrew Benintendi and Seby Zavala had two hits apiece for Chicago, which has lost five of six to fall to a season-low 15 games under .500.
Nick Padilla (0-1) took the loss, allowing one run and two hits in the seventh, with one strikeout.
Chicago approached Game 2 of the twin bill as a bullpen game. Opener Jesse Scholtens surrendered three runs on 11 hits in four-plus innings, with one strikeout.
Scholtens pitched with a lead for the final stages of his outing, as Tim Anderson's RBI single and a two-run homer by Eloy Jimenez in the third inning put the hosts ahead 3-1.
Toronto rallied behind Chapman's solo home run leading off the fourth and Guerrero's RBI single in the fifth, the last in a string of three straight Blue Jays hits against Scholtens to start the inning.
A run scored when Anderson grounded into a double play in the bottom half to put the White Sox back ahead 4-3. Merrifield answered in the next half-inning, though, connecting for a solo shot against Bryan Shaw.
--Field Level Media