TORONTO — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. capped his major league debut with a double leading off the ninth inning for his first hit, and Brandon Drury followed with a winning two-run homer with two outs Friday night to lift the Toronto Blue Jays over the Oakland Athletics, 4-2.
The 20-year-old son of Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero, considered the top prospect in the major leagues, arrived at Rogers Centre in a replica Montreal Expos jersey to honor his father, who was on hand. He grounded out in the second, was robbed of an extra-base hit by left fielder Stephen Pinder’s leaping catch in the fourth, then flied to right in the sixth.
Guerrero hit an opposite-field double down the right-field line on a 2-2 fastball from Yusmeiro Petit (0-1). Billy McKinney sacrificed pinch-runner Alen Hanson and, with the infield in, Teoscar Hernandez lined out to second baseman Jurickson Profar.
Drury followed with a drive over the center-field wall and Guerrero, arm raised, was the first Blue Jays player out of the dugout to celebrate.
Ken Giles (1-1) struck out two on a one-hit ninth.
Eric Sogard’s first-inning homer and Randal Grichuk’s third-inning RBI single built a lead off Mike Fiers, but Robbie Grossman hit a two-run homer in the eighth off Joe Biagini.
Guerrero Jr. missed the start of the season after an oblique injury in spring training. He played four rehab games at Class A Dunedin before moving up to Triple-A Buffalo, where he hit .367 with three homers and eight RBI in eight games.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
PADRES 4, NATIONALS 3: Hunter Renfroe hit a tiebreaking solo drive in the ninth inning, and San Diego rallied at Washington.
Renfroe, who entered as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning, drove Sean Doolittle’s 1-2 pitch over the wall in left-center for his fifth homer. It was only the second run allowed by Doolittle (3-1) in 12 appearances.
Craig Stammen (3-1) got the win despite allowing Carter Kieboom’s solo homer in his major league debut. The shot to left-center was the first hit for Kieboom, who was promoted Friday from Triple-A Fresno.
Kirby Yates worked the ninth for his major league-best 13th save. He struck out Kieboom to escape a bases-loaded jam.
San Diego improved to 12-3 in games decided by two runs or less.
NOTES
WHITE SOX: Chicago designated struggling right-hander Ervin Santana for assignment and inserted left-hander Manny Banuelos in his rotation spot.
Santana, 36, a two-time All-Star, was 0-2 with a 9.45 ERA in three starts after his contract was selected April 9 from Triple-A Charlotte. The White Sox signed him to a minor league deal in February that called for a $4.3 million salary while in the major leagues. A finger injury followed by surgery limited Santana to five appearances with Minnesota last season.
“Frankly, we weren’t quite getting what we were hoping for out of that spot in terms of consistency and we decided to make a change,” General Manager Rick Hahn said . “We didn’t feel like it was working out, and we decided to go a different direction in the interest of the long-term.”
• Rookie left fielder Eloy Jimenez, one of baseball’s top prospects, left the game against Detroit with a sprained right ankle. He jumped into the wall while trying to catch Grayson Greiner’s two-run homer in the third inning, and his right foot appeared to get caught in the padding on the wall.
TIGERS: Right-hander Jordan Zimmermann was put on the 10-day injured list because of a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow.
Detroit recalled right-hander Zac Reininger from Triple-A Toledo.
Zimmerman left Thursday night’s game in Boston before the bottom of the fourth inning with elbow discomfort. He allowed five runs on five hits and three walks as he lost his fourth straight decision.
PHILLIES-ROCKIES: Philadelphia acquired infielder Hunter Stovall from Colorado for left-hander James Pazos.
Pazos, 27, was obtained from Seattle in December as part of the trade that sent infielder Jean Segura to Philadelphia. Pazos was 0-1 with a 6.14 ERA in seven games for Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He is 9-6 with a 3.54 ERA in four seasons with the New York Yankees and Mariners.
YANKEES: Third baseman Miguel Andujar played five innings in his first intrasquad game at the team’s minor-league complex.
Andujar hasn’t played for the Yankees since tearing the labrum in his right shoulder while sliding into third base on a pickoff attempt March 31. He went 2 for 3 with a two-run homer and a walk.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.