OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) 鈥� and finished with a career-high five RBIs as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Oakland Athletics 6-4 on Sunday.
Kiner-Falefa hit a 2-1 pitch into the gap in left-centre with one out in the 10th, scoring Bo Bichette, Daulton Varsho and Ernie Clement to give Toronto a 6-3 lead.
鈥�(My) teammates did a great job of getting on base and getting in scoring position with less than two outs, and that was able to make my at-bat a lot easier,鈥� Kiner-Falefa said.
Kiner-Falefa also had a two-run single as Toronto took the rubber match of the three-game series and won for the fourth time in five games.
鈥淏eing able to come through and find ways to win series, that鈥檚 all that matters right now,鈥� Kiner-Falefa said. 鈥淪o it was a big series win and we鈥檝e got to keep the momentum going.鈥�
Brent Rooker homered for Oakland, which scored more than three runs for the first time in seven games.
Yimi Garc铆a (3-0) pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his second win of the week. G茅nesis Cabrera pitched the bottom of the 10th, allowing just the automatic runner to score, and picked up his first save since 2022.
Austin Adams (0-2) allowed three runs (two earned) in one inning and took the loss.
Kiner-Falefa gave Toronto an early lead with a two-run single in the second inning.
Rooker got Oakland on the board in the sixth with his 13th home run of the season, a solo shot to left.
The A鈥檚 took their first lead in the seventh when Abraham Toro singled home two runs on a flare to shallow left-centre.
Varsho singled to lead off the eighth, reached second on a sacrifice bunt and stole third. Davis Schneider drove him in with a sacrifice fly, tying the game at 3.
鈥淟ove the way they fought back today,鈥� Blue Jays manager John Schneider said of his team. 鈥淭o get out of here with two (wins) after a tough one the first night here, really, really couldn鈥檛 be prouder of them.鈥�
A鈥檚 starter Mitch Spence pitched a career-high seven innings, allowing two runs and five hits. The rookie right-hander had three strikeouts and no walks.
鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 have asked for a better start,鈥� Oakland manager Mark Kotsay said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 unfortunate that we ended up on the wrong side of this one today.鈥�
Bowden Francis pitched four scoreless innings for the Blue Jays in his first start since April 7.
COLLISION IN FOUL TERRITORY
The 10th inning featured an odd play near the Blue Jays鈥� dugout, when A鈥檚 first baseman Tyler Soderstrom while chasing a pop fly off the bat of Schneider. Kikuchi, standing outside his own dugout, tried to get out of the way but made contact with Soderstrom, who was chasing the foul. Schneider was called out due to interference.
鈥淚 kind of realized last minute that the dugout in Oakland doesn鈥檛 have a fence,鈥� Kikuchi said through a translator. 鈥淚 just realized a little too late there. 鈥� Obviously I feel bad and I want to apologize.鈥�
UP NEXT
Blue Jays: Jos茅 Berr铆os (5-4, 2.80 ERA) opens a three-game series at Milwaukee on Monday night opposite Brewers RHP Colin Rea (4-2, 3.53).
Athletics: RHP Joey Estes (2-1, 4.67) makes his eighth career start Monday night as Oakland begins a three-game series at San Diego. The Padres counter with RHP Dylan Cease (5-5, 3.51).
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
The Associated Press
