Toronto Blue Jays vs Cleveland Guardians Match Player Stats On Aug 07, 2023

Cavan Biggio hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning to break a scoreless tie and help lift the visiting Toronto Blue Jays to a 3-1 win against the Cleveland Guardians in the opener of a four-game series on Monday night.

Enyel De Los Santos (4-2) started the eighth after rookie right-hander Gavin Williams had blanked the Blue Jays on one hit over seven innings. De Los Santos gave up a one-out, broken-bat single to Daulton Varsho before Biggio lifted a changeup over the fence in center field for a 2-0 lead.

Biggio then pulled off an unassisted double play while playing second base in the bottom half of the inning to strand the tying run at third.

Toronto starter Hyun Jin Ryu made his second start since returning from Tommy John surgery in June of 2022, but his night was cut short when he was hit in the lower right leg by a line drive off the bat of Oscar Gonzalez at the end of the fourth inning.

Ryu, who had not allowed a hit when he was drilled, retrieved the ball and threw Gonzalez out at first, but then collapsed in pain. After several minutes, he walked off the field under his own power and was later diagnosed with a right knee contusion.

Jay Jackson, Genesis Cabrera and Erik Swanson (3-2) threw one shutout inning apiece before Bo Naylor delivered a one-out RBI single in the eighth off Tim Mayza to cut Toronto's lead to 2-1 and put runners on the corners.

Biggio then fielded a grounder from Steven Kwan while playing in, tagged Naylor about 10 feet off the first base bag and then stepped on first for the final out.

The Blue Jays tacked on an insurance run in the ninth on an RBI single by George Springer to make it 3-1.

Jordan Hicks stranded the bases loaded in the ninth for his 10th save.

Williams struck out a career-high 12 batters, the most by a Cleveland rookie since Luis Tiant fanned 12 in 1964. Williams walked one in his ninth major league start.

Williams gave up his only hit to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with two outs in the first and pitched around his only walk in the second.

Brayan Rocchio had two hits for Cleveland, which has lost six of its last seven.

--Field Level Media