ANAHEIM, Calif. (Interstat) — Dylan Cease overpowered the Los Angeles Angels lineup with a season-high 12 strikeouts over five innings, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. provided the early offensive spark with a two-run homer as the Toronto Blue Jays secured a 5-2 victory on Monday night at Angel Stadium.

The win, played in two hours and 48 minutes before a crowd of 37,897, improved the Blue Jays to 9-13, while the Angels fell to 11-13.

The most important sequence of the game arrived in the third inning, shifting momentum permanently in Toronto’s favor. After the Angels had taken an early lead, Blue Jays leadoff man Davis Schneider worked a walk against Angels starter Reid Detmers. Following a flyout, Guerrero stepped in and launched a towering drive to center field. The ball cleared the fence for his second home run of the season, erasing the one-run deficit and giving Toronto a 2-1 lead it would not relinquish. The Angels would tie it briefly in the bottom half on a Nolan Schanuel sacrifice fly, but the Guerrero blast established a tone of resilience for the visitors.

Cease (1-0), acquired by Toronto in the offseason, was the story on the mound. Despite allowing two runs on five hits, the right-hander was dominant, recording strikeouts for 12 of his 15 outs. He fanned Mike Trout looking on a foul tip in the first inning and ended his night by striking out the side in the fifth, getting Jorge Soler looking to strand a runner. Over his last three starts, Cease has now allowed just three earned runs in 16 innings while striking out 26.

The Blue Jays methodically added to their lead. They broke the 2-2 tie in the sixth when Guerrero singled, advanced to third on an Eloy Jiménez single, and scored on Lenyn Sosa’s sacrifice fly to left. An insurance run came in the seventh on an RBI single by pinch-hitter Nathan Lukes, scoring Myles Straw. Lukes added another RBI in the ninth with a groundout to plate Straw again, capping the scoring.

Toronto’s bullpen delivered four shutout innings to seal the win. Louis Varland struck out all three batters he faced in the sixth and part of the seventh. After Tyler Rogers navigated around an error in the eighth, closer Jeff Hoffman entered in the ninth. Hoffman was electric, striking out Josh Lowe and Logan O’Hoppe before getting Adam Frazier to strike out on a foul tip to end the game, earning his third save.

Detmers (1-2) took the loss for Los Angeles, charged with four runs, three earned, on five hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out five. The Angels offense managed just six hits total and went 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position, stranding five.

The victory defied the pregame projection from Interstat’s game simulator, which had forecast a 6-3 Angels win. However, the outcome aligned with the system’s ELO rating, which gave Toronto a 60.1% probability to win. The Blue Jays also covered the pregame spread of -1.5, and the combined seven total runs went under the over/under line of 7.5.

For Toronto, the win provided a positive start to a six-game road trip after taking two of three in Arizona over the weekend. Guerrero finished 3 for 4 with the two RBIs, and Straw scored twice. For the Angels, the loss extended a recent stumble, as they have now dropped three of their last four games.

The two teams continue their three-game series on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium.