By Canadian Press

Jansen’s two homers, Berríos’s nine Ks, power Blue Jays past struggling White Sox 7-0

Apr 25, 2023 | 7:53 PM

TORONTO — Danny Jansen hit two home runs as the Toronto Blue Jays routed the Chicago White Sox 7-0 on Tuesday.

Jansen opened the scoring with a three-run homer in the second inning and added a solo shot in the sixth as Toronto (15-9) won its third straight.

Kevin Kiermaier had a two-run triple and George Springer hit an RBI single, while Whit Merrifield stretched his on-base streak to 18 games with a walk.

José Berríos (2-3) had the best outing of his year, going seven scoreless innings and striking out a season-high nine. He allowed four hits and a walk.

Relievers Nate Pearson — making his first appearance for the Blue Jays since October 2021 — and Anthony Bass held the White Sox scoreless.

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Mike Clevinger (2-2) gave up six runs on seven hits and three walks, striking out three over five innings as Chicago (7-17) lost its sixth consecutive game. Tanner Banks allowed a run in his three innings of relief.

Berríos took the loss in his last outing, an 8-1 defeat in Houston on April 19, but he only gave up two runs over seven innings and struck out three in that decision.

He carried that momentum into Tuesday’s game, striking out the first three White Sox he faced on just 16 pitches.

Clevinger was almost as efficient in the bottom of the first, giving up a single to Springer before retiring three straight Toronto hitters, including striking out Bo Bichette and Daulton Varsho.

Berríos kept humming in the second, quickly dismissing three straight batters but Clevinger ran into trouble.

The White Sox starter walked Matt Chapman and Brandon Belt to start the inning and induced a pop-fly by Merrifield, bringing Jansen to the plate.

Facing a 1-1 count, Jansen sent an 81 m.p.h. slider 359 feet into the Blue Jays’ bullpen for a 3-0 Toronto lead. It was Jansen’s second homer of the season but took his RBI count up to 11.

Kiermaier added more runs in the fourth, with his triple to centre field driving in Merrifield and Jansen. It was the second triple of Kiermaier’s season and 53rd of his career.

Springer then brought home Kiermaier with a single to left field for a 6-0 lead.

Berríos got into the most trouble of his night in the sixth when he gave up a leadoff single to Elvis Andrus, struck out Romy Gonzalez and Luis Robert Jr., and then gave up a base hit to Andrew Bennitendi. But Berríos punched out Eloy Jimenez for his seventh K of the night to strand Andrus on third.

Jansen hit his second homer in the bottom of the inning, launching a Banks change-up 393 feet into left-centre field. It was the fifth multihomer game of his six years in Major League Baseball.

Berríos evening ended with back-to-back strikeouts of Yasmani Grandal and Jake Burger in the top of the seventh. The superb outing lowered his earned-run average from 6.23 to 4.71.

BLEEDS BLUE — Toronto closer Jordan Romano, who’s from nearby Markham, Ont., arrived at the ballpark on Tuesday wearing a Maple Leafs jersey. He brought a box of Timbits for his Blue Jays teammates to celebrate the Leafs’ come-from-behind 4-3 overtime playoff victory in Tampa Bay the night before.

ON DECK — Yusei Kikuchi (3-0) gets the start as Toronto closes out its three-game set against Chicago with a rare weekday matinee. The White Sox counter with Michael Kopech (3-0).

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 25, 2023.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press