BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (Interstat) — Kazuma Okamoto hit his third home run in two days, Brandon Valenzuela homered in an eight-run eighth inning and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Minnesota Twins 11-4 Saturday afternoon at Target Field.

Dylan Cease earned the win, allowing three earned runs on seven hits over seven innings with seven strikeouts. He improved to 2-1. Luis García took the loss, falling to 0-1 after the bullpen could not hold a one-run deficit. Attendance was 30,687, and the game lasted 2 hours, 37 minutes.

Toronto improved to 16-17, winning for the sixth time in eight games. Minnesota dropped to 14-20.

The Blue Jays struck first in the second inning. Lenyn Sosa led off with a solo home run, his first of the season, and Myles Straw added a solo shot two batters later for a 2-0 lead. Minnesota answered in the bottom half. Kody Clemens singled, Luke Keaschall walked and Matt Wallner grounded out to put runners on second and third. Brooks Lee then grounded a single to first base; a throwing error by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. allowed both runners to score, tying the game 2-2. Byron Buxton homered in the first inning for Minnesota’s other early run, giving the Twins a 1-0 lead before Toronto’s outburst.

The Twins regained the lead in the fifth. Tristan Gray led off with a single, moved to second on a groundout and scored on Trevor Larnach’s single to center, making it 4-2.

Toronto cut the deficit to 4-3 in the sixth when Okamoto crushed a solo homer to center, his eighth of the year.

The decisive rally came in the eighth. With the Blue Jays trailing by one, Ernie Clement singled and Guerrero walked. Okamoto singled to center, deflected by second baseman Luke Keaschall, scoring Clement and sending Guerrero to third. Sosa followed with an infield single that scored Guerrero. An error by reliever Anthony Banda on a fielder’s choice loaded the bases. Straw walked to force in Okamoto, and Davis Schneider doubled to left, clearing the bases with two runs. Valenzuela then capped the inning with a three-run homer to center, his third of the season. Toronto sent 13 batters to the plate and scored eight times, turning a 4-3 deficit into an 11-4 lead.

Cease retired the side in order in the sixth and seventh before giving way to the bullpen. Mason Fluharty, Spencer Miles and John Klein each pitched a scoreless inning to close out the game.

For Minnesota, Connor Prielipp started and allowed two earned runs on three hits over five innings, striking out four. Kody Funderburk tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief.

Okamoto finished 2 for 5 with two RBIs. Sosa went 2 for 5 with two RBIs. Straw was 1 for 2 with two RBIs and two walks. Valenzuela drove in three runs. Buxton homered for the third straight game and fifth time in six contests, finishing 1 for 4.

Toronto’s George Springer left the game after being hit by a pitch in the third inning. He was replaced by Jesús Sánchez, who later grounded into a double play.

The game was the second of a three-game series. Toronto won the opener 7-3 on Friday, while Minnesota won the series finale on Thursday 7-1. The Blue Jays next face the Twins on Sunday before traveling to Tampa Bay for a three-game set. Minnesota will host Toronto again Sunday, then travel to Washington for three games.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Toronto 5, Minnesota 4. Interstat’s ELO system gave Toronto a 58.00 percent probability to win. Toronto was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1½. The total score of 15 went under the over/under line of 8.