TORONTO – The Toronto Blue Jays aren’t just celebrating their season-high eight-game win streak, they’re celebrating how they’ve done it.
Joey Loperfido delivered a key run-producing hit and reliever Ryan Burr registered the win in Toronto’s 3-2 victory over the Angels on Sunday to brush Los Angeles. Each players made their season debuts within the triumph.
Loperfido was promoted from Triple-A Buffalo to switch an injured Andres Gimenez (ankle). Burr was activated from the 60-day injured list concurrently he needed the primary three months of the season to get better from a right shoulder ailment.
“I feel it speaks volumes to the sort of tone and the culture now we have here,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “Looking back to last yr, we had a revolving door in here, and it was sort of like, ‘All right, who’re we? What are we going to do?’
“Now it’s like, ‘that is what we’re doing. Here’s how we’re doing it.’ It’s pretty cool for Joey to hitch the party in addition to Ryan.”
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After Bo Bichette made up for an error in the highest of the fourth, he smashed his twelfth home run of the season to guide off the underside of the inning. Later within the fourth, Loperfido singled with two outs to attain Myles Straw for a 2-1 lead.
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“I’ve been watching from afar and it looked like a ton of fun,” said Loperfido, who in his pre-game meeting with Schneider discussed the various atmosphere within the Blue Jays’ (52-38) clubhouse.
“There’s a looseness and positivity and the fun that comes with a swagger.”
Burr (1-0) took over for starter Kevin Gausman with two outs within the sixth inning and the sport tied 2-2. Schneider left it as much as Gausman whether to remain in.
But Gausman was gassed after tossing a season-high 107 pitches. Gausman also took on a little bit of a manager’s role, feeling Burr’s slider would offset his own splitter as the proper tonic to maintain the Angels (43-46) hitters at bay.
Burr pitched 1 1/3 innings, striking out three of the six batters he faced. His slider struck out Mike Trout, who homered in the primary inning, to start the seventh.
“I believed he did an incredible job bridging the gap,” Gausman said.
The Blue Jays’ 52 wins is one shy of the club record for victories before the All-Star Game, set in 1985 and matched in 1992.
With three road games apiece against the Chicago White Sox and the Athletics in Sacramento, Calif., the 2 worst teams within the AL, Toronto should give you the option to topple the old 53-win mark before the break.
The four-game sweep of the Yankees earlier this week and three more against the Angels have put the Blue Jays on this position.
“We’re gonna enjoy that,” Schneider said. “To win out a homestand, throw in Canada Day, it being a distinct guy every night, that was pretty cool.
“It might have been easy to have a letdown after the four-game sweep. But to win three one-run games [against the Angels], and to do it in other ways with different people, it was awesome.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 6, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press