PHILADELPHIA – Justin Smoak homered, Sam Gaviglio struck out six over six innings and Ryan Tepera escaped a ninth-inning jam for his first save to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to a 6-5 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night.
Yangervis Solarte and Kevin Pillar added RBI doubles for the Blue Jays, who opened a nine-game road trip after going 1-6 and getting outscored 43-22 on a seven-game homestand against Oakland and the Angels.
Gaviglio (2-0) won for the second time in place of injured starter Marcus Stroman (right shoulder fatigue), allowing three runs on three hits _ including the first career homer by Phillies starter Zach Eflin.
Carlos Santana also homered for Philadelphia, which began play a half-game behind Atlanta for first place in the NL East.
Tepera, filling in for closer Roberto Osuna, got his first save in his fourth opportunity _ but it wasn’t easy. After getting Scott Kingery to fly out leading off the inning, Tepera gave up a single to Jorge Alfaro and a double by Pedro Florimon to put runners on second and third. Alfaro scored on a wild pitch, that also moved Florimon to third. Tepera walked the next two batters to load the bases with one out before striking out Rhys Hoskins looking and getting Odubel Herrera to ground out.
Earlier on Friday, Major League Baseball extended the administrative leave for Osuna through June 4. Osuna was arrested earlier this month on assault charges.
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