Joey Votto homered in his first at-bat in the opening inning and the Toronto Blue Jays played to a 5-5 draw against the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday in pre-season action.
It was one of two split-squad games on the day for the Blue Jays, who defeated the Minnesota Twins 9-4 in Dunedin, Fla.
Votto, from Toronto, made his first appearance in a Jays uniform after signing a minor league deal with a spring training invite on March 9.
The 40-year-old joined Toronto after 17 years with Cincinnati, where he was a six-time all-star and earned National League MVP honours in 2010.
Ernie Clement’s eighth-inning homer, followed by Garrett Spain’s RBI single in the ninth pulled Toronto (11-11) even against Philadelphia. Starter Jose Berrios had two strikeouts and surrendered six hits and four runs in 4 2/3 innings.
Rodolfo Castro had two runs batted in for Philadelphia (8-9). Zack Wheeler struck out two batters, walked one and gave up three hits and one run in four innings as the starter.
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