(St. Petersburg) George Springer homered, made a diving catch and threw out a runner in the Toronto Blue Jays’ 9-5 win over the Rays of Tampa Bay on Sunday.

“He kind of changed the game for 25 minutes,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. This time of year, George is a good guy to have on your team. »

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit two longs and Bo Bichette added a four-goal for the Blue Jays, who won two games of this three-game series against potential playoff opponents.

The Torontonians once again finished the day second among the American drafted teams. They lead the Houston Astros by two games and the Seattle Mariners by two and a half games.

The Blue Jays also won two of three against the New York Yankees on a six-game road trip that followed a sweep of the Boston Red Sox at home.

“It’s an extraordinary journey,” Schneider said.

Isaac Paredes hit his 30th homer of the campaign for the Rays, who are already assured of at least finishing first among the American drafted teams. They concluded the day with a delay of two and a half games behind the Baltimore Orioles and the first echelon of the Eastern section.

Rays first baseman Yandy Diaz left the game in the third inning due to right hamstring tightness. He is in second place in the American batting average (.328).

“I think he’ll be fine,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. He’s sore. It was much more as a precaution that he left the field. »

Whit Merrifield tied the game with a two-run single before Springer gave the Blue Jays a 5-2 lead following his infield homer off Taj Bradley (5-8). Center fielder Manuel Margot tried to catch the ball at the fence, but it changed trajectory to allow Springer to touch the plate.

In the third inning, Springer grabbed Curtis Mead’s hit ball to right field and threw a long throw to Bichette to pin Mead at second base. Springer then stole a point from the Rays and caught Paredes’ arrow.

Bradley retired 10 straight batters after Springer’s homer before Guerrero’s slap gave Toronto a 6-3 lead in the sixth inning. The rookie pitcher allowed six runs and seven hits in a career-high seven innings of work.

Paredes cut the lead to 6-5 with a two-run homer in the seventh inning. These were his 93rd and 94th RBIs this season.

In the ninth inning, Bichette hit his 20th long ball of the campaign and Guerrero his 26th to give the Blue Jays a 9-5 lead.

The 20-year-old Rays rookie Junior Caminero produced his first career run in the Majors following a single to left in the first inning.

Blue Jays starter Yusei Kikuchi was removed from the game after giving up three runs on nine hits over four innings. Trevor Richards (2-1) blanked the Rays for two innings to get the victory.