Lukes, Varsho homer as Blue Jays rout Padres 14-0

TORONTO – Daulton Varsho’s grand slam highlighted a seven-run eighth inning as the Toronto Blue Jays routed the San Diego Padres 14-0 on Wednesday.

Nathan Lukes’s two-run homer gave Toronto (24-24) an early lead in the fifth before the Blue Jays racked up 12 runs in the seventh and eighth. Bo Bichette drove in a run with a fielder’s choice in the seventh and added an RBI single in the eighth.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and George Springer each had an RBI single before pinch-hitter Jonatan Clase added a two-run double in the five-run seventh. Addison Barger drove in a run with a double and Ernie Clement added another score with a single.

Kevin Gausman (4-4) struck out nine and gave up just three hits over seven scoreless innings. Reliever Jose Urena finished the game out.

Luis Arraez had a double and a triple as San Diego (27-20) lost its fifth-straight game.

Randy Vasquez (3-4) allowed two runs on four hits, striking out four over 4 2/3 innings.

Jeremiah Estrada, Adrian Morejon and Alek Jacob came out of the Padres bullpen, with Morejon giving up four unearned runs and Jacob allowing six, five of those earned. Centre-fielder Tyler Wade started pitching with one out in the eighth to spare San Diego’s arms.

Takeaways

Padres: Poor fielding cost San Diego, with four errors allowing Toronto to run up the score. A particularly poor sequence in the seventh saw two fielding errors load the bases for the Blue Jays. Second baseman Jake Cronenworth compounded those errors when he bobbled Bichette’s hit, turning what could have been a double play into a fielder’s choice, getting Lukes out at second but allowing Bichette to reach base safely and Barger to score from third.

Blue Jays: Santander had a single in the fourth inning but was pulled in the seventh inning in favour of Clase, who is also a switch hitter. Toronto later announced that Santander was pulled due to left hip inflammation, an issue he has been dealing with for weeks.

Key moment

Arraez reached second in the first inning after a one-out double to right field. Gausman was called for a ball during the next at bat, moving Arraez to third. Gausman and Blue Jays manager John Schneider argued the call to no avail, but the Toronto starter got out of the jam by inducing a Manny Machado pop fly and striking out Jackson Merrill.

Key stat

After a six-game winning streak at the end of April and into May, the Padres’ bats have gone ice cold, scoring only three runs in this five-game losing skid.

Up next

Bowden Francis (2-6) gets the start as Toronto closes out the three-game series with a Thursday matinee.

Stephen Kolek (2-1) will take the mound for San Diego.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2025.

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