TORONTO — Russell Martin hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh inning as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Chicago White Sox 4-2 on Monday night at Rogers Centre.
With Curtis Granderson aboard after a walk, Martin turned on a 1-2 pitch from former Blue Jays pitcher Danny Farquhar for his first home run of the season.
Ryan Tepera worked a scoreless eighth inning and Aledmys Diaz added an insurance run with a solo homer in the bottom half of the frame. Closer Roberto Osuna pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save.
Josh Donaldson also homered for the Blue Jays (3-2), who have won three games in a row. Wellington Castillo hit two solo shots for the White Sox (2-1).
Starters Reynaldo Lopez of Chicago and Jaime Garcia of Toronto were in fine form over the first few innings.
The White Sox had a good chance in the third when Yolmer Sanchez stole second and went to third base on a Martin throwing error. But Sanchez was caught leaning for home on a grounder to third baseman Yangervis Solarte and was tagged out after a rundown.
In the fourth, Castillo opened the scoring by launching a rainbow shot into the second deck. It was the first homer of the season for the Chicago catcher.
Granderson picked up Toronto’s first hit in the fifth inning with an infield single. Randal Grichuk walked, but both runners were stranded when Kevin Pillar hit into a double play.
Chicago’s Jose Abreu had a brain cramp in the sixth, reaching on a one-out single and trying to tag up on a fly ball to left field. Granderson’s throw to second base was accurate and Abreu was out in plenty of time.
Donaldson’s solo shot in the sixth — his first homer of the year — just made it over the wall inside the right-field foul screen. He was the designated hitter for a fourth straight game as he works through a “dead-arm” issue.
Garcia threw six innings of four-hit ball, allowing one earned run and two walks. He had seven strikeouts in his Blue Jays’ debut.
The left-hander was replaced by Seung Hwan Oh (1-0), who gave up a solo homer to Castillo in the seventh. It was Castillo’s sixth career multi-homer game.
Meanwhile, Lopez struck out six and allowed two hits, two walks and one earned run over six innings.
Tepera gave up a one-out double to Abreu in the eighth before fanning Matt Davidson and Castillo. With Farquhar (1-1) still on the hill, Diaz took the first pitch deep for his first homer of the season.
Announced attendance was 16,629 and the game took two hours 51 minutes to play.
Notes: Sanchez was hit by pitches on two occasions. … Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said there was a “good chance” that Donaldson would play third base on Tuesday night. … The White Sox have tabbed right-hander Miguel Gonzalez (0-0) to start Tuesday against Toronto southpaw J.A. Happ (0-1). … Blue Jays first baseman Justin Smoak was named American League player of the week on Monday. He had seven hits and two home runs last week.
THE CANADIAN PRESS