With home runs by Ernie Clement and Daulton Varsho, the Toronto Blue Jays became the first American League team to reach 70 victories by defeating the Chicago Cubs 5-1 on Tuesday night. With three hits, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. helped the AL East-leading Blue Jays (70-50) improve their mark to 23-11 against National League teams.
Having dropped five of their previous seven games, the Cubs have only scored six runs in those five defeats. Over 5 1/3 scoreless innings, Toronto’s right-handed pitcher Jose Berrios (9-4) was outstanding, giving up only two hits, both of which were singles. Four walks and three strikeouts were recorded by him.
Before a season-high crowd of 43,003, Berrios earned his fourth straight victory. With a 3.62 ERA, he claims a 7-1 mark over his last ten appearances. Cubs right-hander Javier Assad (0-1) battled, making his first start since September 25, 2024, at Philadelphia, allowing four runs and eight hits over four innings of action. Having been recuperating from an oblique injury, Assad was activated by the Cubs from the 60-day injured list.
The Toronto Blue Jays had three hits in the first inning, one of which was Alejandro Kirk’s RBI single. Clement started a three-run homer off Assad in the fourth, whereas Varsho contributed to Toronto’s lead with a leadoff homer against Ben Brown in the eighth, Varsho’s twelfth homer of the season.
In the seventh inning, Michael Busch of Chicago was able to strike an RBI single off Tommy Nance. Brendon Little then came into the game and struck out Pete Crow-Armstrong, leaving runners stranded at second and third base. Varsho singled to launch the fourth inning, then Ty France was hit by a pitch, which set Clement’s first-pitch home run to left field, a turning point in the game. Looking forward, Blue Jays right-handed pitcher Kevin Gausman (8-8, 3.85 ERA) is set to start on Wednesday versus Cubs right-hander Cade Horton (6-3, 3.18 ERA)
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