Oakland Athletics JJ Bleday (33) celebrates his two-run home run against the Toronto Blue Jays with Tony Kemp (5) during first inning MLB baseball action in Toronto on Friday, June 23, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

TORONTO - Vladimir Guerrero Jr. finally found his home-run swing at Rogers Centre but starting pitcher Chris Bassitt still can't find his mojo on the mound.

Guerrero's three-run homer in the third inning gave Toronto the lead but Oakland's Shea Langeliers hit the go-ahead homer in the ninth as the Athletics edged the Blue Jays 5-4. The two-out blast was Guerrero's first in Toronto this season and ended a 16-game homerless drought for the all-star first baseman.

"A home run is a home run for me," said Guerrero through translator Hector Lebron. "People always ask me about hitting a homer here at Rogers Centre but, I mean, God has a time for everything and I believe that.

"Thank God it happened but, like I said, a homer is a homer. I'm very happy it happened."

Kevin Kiermaier had an RBI double in the third before Guerrero's homer drove him in and gave Toronto (41-36) a short-lived one-run lead.

Bassitt gave up four runs on five hits and two walks over five innings. He struck out four.

The Blue Jays have lost in Bassitt's last three starts. He took the loss after giving up eight runs over three innings in an 11-6 defeat in Baltimore on June 13 and then got a no decision after he allowed five runs — three earned — over 3 2/3 innings in an 11-7 loss at Texas on June 18.

"I feel at times I'm thinking too much on the mound rather than competing," said Bassitt.

Relievers Trevor Richards, Tim Mayza, and Erik Swanson kept the A's off the scoreboard but closer Jordan Romano (3-3) of Markham, Ont., took the loss after giving up Langeliers's solo shot.

JJ Bleday had a two-run homer in the first and a sacrifice fly in the fifth as Oakland (20-58) snapped an eight-game skid. Langeliers also had an RBI single in the first.

James Kapriellan gave up four runs on six hits and a walk but had eight strikeouts over his six innings. Sam Moll, Lucas Erceg (2-0) and Trevor May came out of the Athletics bullpen.

Despite the victory, Oakland's .256 winning percentage is still the worst in baseball. The embattled franchise has also had fans protesting the team's potential move to Las Vegas.

Conner Capel was the only player in the Athletics batting order on Friday with a batting average better than .250. Three of Oakland's hitters had averages below .200 — the so-called Mendoza Line — heading into the game: Tony Kemp (. 180), Seth Brown (. 184), and Tyler Wade (. 167). Langeliers entered the game at .199 but his two hits lifted his average up to .204.

But Oakland manager Mark Kotsay stacked his batting order with seven lefties, including Capel, Kemp, Brown and Wade, to counter the right-handed Bassitt.

"Just prepare for lefties," said Bassitt when asked on how he could have better readied himself. "I'm not really sure how to answer that, really, other than prepare for lefties."

Bassitt gave up a leadoff single to Kemp, who then stole second. Bleday came to the plate two at bats later, and launched a 1-1 pitch 372 feet to right field to score Kemp.

Bassitt gave up a walk and another hit to bring Langeliers to the plate. The light-hitting catcher singled to score Aledmys Diaz for a 3-0 Oakland lead after an inning.

After that, Bassitt stopped calling his own pitches and instead relied on catcher Danny Jansen's judgment.

"I think I'm done calling pitches," said Bassitt. "I'm not sure if I'm tipping in the way I sequence pitches, I'm not sure what's going on really right now."

Kiermaier answered for Toronto in the third. After Jansen led off the inning with a double, Kiermaier doubled to score his teammate and cut into the Athletics' lead.

Four batters later, Guerrero smashed his 10th home run of the season into deep left field. The 434-foot bomb came off a 92.1 m.p.h. four-seam fastball to score Kiermaier and Bo Bichette for a 4-3 Blue Jays' lead.

Bleday tied it up for Oakland in the fifth with his sac fly. It gave Capel plenty of time to run home and make it 4-4.

Langeliers gave the Athletics another lead in the top of the ninth, sending a 1-1 pitch from Romano to deep left field. It was only the third home run the Toronto closer has given up this season.

MANOAH TIMELINE — Schneider said that there is currently no time frame for pitcher Alek Manoah to return to Toronto's starting rotation. Manoah was demoted to the Blue Jays minor-league system on June 6 to work on his delivery after he struggled to start the season.

INJURY UPDATE — Catcher Alejandro Kirk did some receiving drills on Friday but hasn't hit yet. He was put on the 10-day injured list on Monday after his left hand was lacerated when he was hit by a pitch. Relief pitcher Zach Pop of Brampton, Ont., is scheduled to throw at least an inning for triple-A Buffalo. He has been out since May 5 with a right hamstring strain.

ON DECK — José Berríos takes his 7-5 record to the mound on Saturday as Toronto continues its series with Oakland.

Hogan Harris (2-1) is scheduled to pitch for the Athletics.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2023.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2023