TORONTO – An old bat was a difference-maker for the Toronto Blue Jays in a wild 9-8 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night.
Ty France sparked an eighth-inning rally with a solo homer and Addison Barger emerged from a 2-for-30 slump with a two-run double to assist the Blue Jays to their AL-best fortieth comeback win of the 12 months.
Barger said France “randomly decided” to make use of one in every of his old bats from the cage before his pinch-hit appearance.
“I haven’t seen the bat since last 12 months and he had a homer with it,” Barger said. “And I used to be like, ‘Oh shoot, I’m going to make use of that.’ And it worked.”
Barger lined a slider from Michael Tonkin (2-1) off the highest of the wall in right field to bring home Alejandro Kirk with the tying run and George Springer from first base with the go-ahead run.
Seranthony Dominguez (3-4) got two outs within the eighth inning for the win and closer Jeff Hoffman worked the ninth for his twenty ninth save as Toronto (78-56) took the rubber game of the three-game series.
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Barger became a daily within the lineup early within the season after providing consistent pop on the plate. Despite his struggles in recent weeks, he stays unfazed by late-game pressure.
With runners in scoring position within the seventh inning or later this season, Barger is hitting .389 with a 1.161 OPS (on-base plus slugging).
“Addy’s got talent,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “He can do this. We’ve seen him do this, we’ve seen him hit home runs.
“I feel it’s just the natural course of the season for a young guy and I feel he’s navigating it pretty much.”
On the mound, Schneider went right back to Hoffman an evening after he gave up two homers and blew his seventh save of the season.
“It’s like a quarterback throwing an interception,” Schneider said. “You’ve got to have a brief memory and also you’ve got to maneuver on to the subsequent thing. And you realize, Hoff, like everybody else on this team, they move on to the subsequent thing.”
The sport had eight solo homers — 4 from each team — and Toronto clawed back from three deficits before taking its first lead within the eighth.
Only the Los Angeles Dodgers (41) have had more comeback wins.
“These guys don’t quit,” Schneider said. “They don’t give a (crap) who they’re playing against. They don’t care what the situation is. I like it.”
Andres Gimenez and Davis Schneider, with a pair, also went deep for Toronto. Byron Buxton, with two, Luke Keaschall and Brooks Lee homered for the Twins (60-73).
Toronto starter Eric Lauer allowed six earned runs and 10 hits over 4 2/3 innings. He had 4 strikeouts.
Minnesota starter Simeon Woods Richardson gave up five earned runs and five hits over 3 2/3 frames. He walked a pair and fanned two.
Toronto maintained its four-game lead on Boston within the American League East Division standings. The Red Sox edged Baltimore 3-2.
The Blue Jays will proceed their six-game homestand Friday night against the MLB-leading Milwaukee Brewers. Shane Bieber (1-0, 1.50 earned-run average) is tabbed to begin for Toronto.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press