TORONTO (AP) 鈥� Six pitchers combined on an eight-hitter, George Springer scored twice and drove in a run, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Cleveland Guardians 5-0 on Saturday.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa had two hits and rookie Addison Barger had his first big league RBI for the Blue Jays, who are 26-3 when scoring five runs or more.
Opener Trevor Richards allowed one hit over 2 1/3 innings, throwing 31 pitches. Tim Mayza and Zach Pop got one out each, and Bowden Francis (3-2) gave up four hits 鈥� all singles 鈥� over four innings. G茅nesis Cabrera worked the eighth and Nate Pearson finished Toronto鈥檚 fifth shutout.
鈥淓veryone did their part,鈥� Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. 鈥淭he runs definitely helped.鈥�
Francis extended his scoreless streak to nine innings.
Cleveland was blanked for the fifth time.
鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to credit them, they pitched very, very well today and kept us off balance,鈥� Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. 鈥淛ust couldn鈥檛 get anything rolling.鈥�
Carlos Carrasco (2-6) lost his fourth straight decision, allowing five runs and six hits in five innings. AL Central-leading Cleveland (44-24) had won four of its previous five.
鈥淗e really gamed up and stepped up to give us five innings, but definitely wasn鈥檛 the sharpest he鈥檚 been,鈥� Vogt said.
Springer, Barger and Spencer Horwitz had RBI singles in a three-run second, Kiner-Falefa singled home Springer in the fourth and Daulton Varsho鈥� hit a run-scoring, double-play grounder in the fifth.
Barger went 1 for 3 with a walk in his first game since being recalled from Triple-A Buffalo Friday. He appeared in five games for Toronto earlier this season.
鈥淗e鈥檚 controlling the zone and putting the bat on the ball,鈥� Schneider said.
Barger said he鈥檚 finding things easier in his second go-around at the big league level.
鈥淚鈥檓 a little more comfortable, more calmed down this time,鈥� Barger said. 鈥淟ast time everything happened really fast.鈥�
Cleveland鈥檚 Steven Kwan had three singles, extending his hitting streak to 10 games.
TRAINER鈥橲 ROOM
Guardians: Cleveland put 3B Jos茅 Ram铆rez on paternity leave and recalled OF Johnathan Rodr铆guez from Triple-A Columbus. A five-time All-Star, Ram铆rez is batting .269 with a team-high 18 home runs. His 62 RBIs began the day second in in RBIs, one behind the New York Yankees鈥� Aaron Judge. Ram铆rez may miss up to three days.
Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette (right calf) was held out of the lineup and Kiner-Falefa started at shortstop.
UP NEXT
RHP Jos茅 Berr铆os (5-5, 2.93 ERA) is scheduled to start for Toronto in Sunday鈥檚 series finale and RHP Ben Lively (6-2, 2.59) for Cleveland.
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AP MLB:
Ian Harrison, The Associated Press
