Pinch runner Breyvic Valera scored on Craig Kimbrel’s wild pitch with two outs in the eighth inning and the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the visiting Chicago White Sox 2-1 Monday night.
The first-place White Sox have lost three in a row.
Reese McGuire started the bottom of the eighth with an infield single against Kimbrel (2-4). Valera, running for McGuire, took second on a wild pitch as Bo Bichette struck out. Valera took third on a groundout and then after Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was walked intentionally, Valera scored on a wild pitch with Teoscar Hernandez at the plate.
Tim Mayza (3-1) pitched a perfect eighth inning with two strikeouts to pick up the win in the opener of the four-game series. Jordan Romano pitched a perfect ninth with two strikeouts to earn his 12th save.
White Sox right-hander Lance Lynn allowed one run, four hits and no walks with four strikeouts in seven innings.
Blue Jays right-hander Alek Manoah allowed one run, five hits and three walks while striking out five in six innings. He also hit two batters.
The White Sox had runners on base in each inning against Manoah but did not score until they notched one in the sixth. Yoan Moncado and Brian Goodwin singled with one out and Andrew Vaughn grounded an RBI single up the middle.
McGuire led off the bottom of the sixth with a double, but was thrown out at third on Bichette’s grounder to second. Bichette took second on a groundout and scored on Guerrero’s single on a 3-0 pitch.
Adam Cimber replaced Manoah in the seventh and overcame a catcher’s interference by inducing a double play grounder.
Lynn pitched around a one-out double by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in the bottom of the inning.
White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson (sore legs) missed his third straight game.
The Blue Jays recalled outfielder Josh Palacios from Triple-A Buffalo on Monday and optioned left-hander Kirby Snead to Buffalo. Right-hander Elvis Luciano was released.
Related: MLB games today – MLB schedule, TV info, scores, and key dates
–Field Level Media