Marlins extend win streak to four by topping Blue Jays 8‑2

TORONTO (Interstat) — Janson Junk pitched five innings to earn his first win since April 28, Kyle Stowers and Javier Sanoja each collected two doubles and two RBI, and the Miami Marlins extended their winning streak to four games by defeating the Toronto Blue Jays 8-2 on Monday night at Rogers Centre.

The Marlins improved to 26-29 while the Blue Jays dropped to 25-29. Miami also moved to 14-5 all-time at Rogers Centre. Canadian outfielder Owen Caissie went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI in front of his home-country crowd. Attendance was 41,177, and the game lasted 2 hours 52 minutes.

Junk (3-5) allowed one run and eight hits, all singles, over five innings. He walked none and struck out three. The right-hander had not won since April 28 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Trey Yesavage (2-2) took the loss for Toronto, allowing five runs on five hits over 6 2/3 innings. He struck out six and walked one.

The game began with Miami striking in the first inning. Xavier Edwards led off with a double to right field, moved to third on a groundout by Liam Hicks, and scored on a sacrifice fly from Otto Lopez. Toronto starter Yesavage settled in after that, retiring the next 10 batters he faced before Miami broke through again in the fifth.

Sanoja led off the fifth with a double to left, and Caissie followed with another double to center that brought Sanoja home, giving Miami a 2-0 lead.

Toronto answered in the bottom half. Lenyn Sosa singled, moved to second on a Nathan Lukes single, and scored on a ground-ball single by Yohendrick Pinango, cutting the deficit to 2-1. Junk escaped further damage by inducing a popout and a strikeout.

The pivotal moment came in the sixth inning. With Yesavage still on the mound, Hicks led off with a walk. After a lineout, Stowers doubled to left, scoring Hicks. Jakob Marsee walked, and Sanoja followed with a double to left-center that scored both Stowers and Marsee, extending Miami’s lead to 5-1. Sanoja’s double was his 10th of the season and gave him two RBI for the night.

Toronto responded immediately in the bottom of the sixth against reliever Lake Bachar. Ernie Clement led off with a solo home run to left-center, his fourth of the season, pulling the Blue Jays within 5-2. But Bachar retired the next three batters, and the Marlins bullpen held Toronto scoreless the rest of the way.

Miami added three insurance runs in the eighth against Toronto reliever Tyler Rogers. Hicks singled, Lopez walked, and Stowers delivered his second double of the game, a line drive to left that scored Hicks and moved Lopez to third. Marsee grounded out to third, allowing Lopez to score and Stowers to advance to third. Sanoja then reached on a fielder’s choice that erased Stowers at home, but Caissie followed with a single to right that scored Sanoja, making it 8-2. Joe Mack added a single before Esteury Ruiz struck out to end the inning.

The Blue Jays mounted a mild threat in the ninth against Miami closer Andrew Nardi. Sosa walked and advanced to second on a groundout, but Nathan Lukes struck out and Pinango grounded out to end the game.

Nathan Lukes led Toronto’s offense with three hits in four at-bats, including a double. Ernie Clement finished 2-for-4 with a home run and an RBI. Brandon Valenzuela had one hit in four at-bats. Kazuma Okamoto and Jesus Sanchez each singled once. George Springer, Andres Gimenez, and Myles Straw combined to go 0-for-10.

For Miami, Stowers finished 3-for-5 with a run scored and two RBI, his doubles in the sixth and eighth providing the key blows. Sanoja went 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBI. Caissie had two hits and two RBI. Edwards reached base twice with a double and a walk. The Marlins pounded out nine hits while Toronto collected 10.

Miami’s next game is Tuesday night in Toronto, the second of a three-game series. The Blue Jays will host the Marlins again before traveling to Baltimore for a four-game set starting Thursday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Toronto 6, Miami 4, and its ELO system gave the Blue Jays a 60.60 percent probability to win. Toronto was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total of 10 runs went under the over/under line of 7.5.