Daulton Varsho finished a triple shy of hitting for the cycle, leading the Toronto Blue Jays to an 8-5 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday in Anaheim, Calif., that prevented a three-game sweep.
Varsho doubled in the third inning, singled in the fifth and homered in the eighth. He also had a sacrifice fly in the sixth while driving in three runs.
The Blue Jays, who overcame a 4-0 deficit, finished with 14 hits, including three each by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Ernie Clement. Anthony Santander chipped in with two hits and two RBIs as Toronto snapped a four-game losing streak.
The Angels, who had won three of their previous four games, got home runs from Taylor Ward and Jo Adell.
Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt (3-2) went six-plus innings and permitted five runs, four earned, on eight hits and a walk. He struck out six. Yariel Rodriguez followed with two scoreless innings, fanning five, and Chad Green pitched the ninth for his first save of the year.
Angels reliever Ryan Johnson (1-1) yielded three runs without recording an out.
Los Angeles starter Jose Soriano found trouble immediately, beginning the game by allowing consecutive singles to Bo Bichette, Guerrero Jr. and Santander to load the bases. However, Soriano got out of the jam, striking out the next three hitters in succession.
The Angels took the lead in the bottom of the first against Bassitt when Ward hit a two-run homer.
Los Angeles added two more runs in the second to take a 4-0 lead. Adell homered with one out for the first run of the inning. Zach Neto singled with two outs, went to third on a single by Nolan Schanuel and scored on an error by shortstop Bichette, who misplayed a grounder by Ward.
Bissett settled in from there, holding the Angels scoreless from the third through sixth innings, allowing the Blue Jays’ bats to rally.
Toronto pushed across two runs in the third, getting two hits and two walks, including an RBI double by Varsho.
An RBI single by Addison Barger in the fifth inning narrowed the Blue Jays’ deficit to 4-3, before Toronto broke through with a four-run sixth inning. Santander hit a go-ahead two-run single, Varsho added a sacrifice fly, and a run-scoring error made it 7-4.
