TORONTO (AP) — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went deep in his first plate appearance following his Home Run Derby win earlier this week, Brandon Belt drove in the tiebreaking run in the seventh inning and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-2 on Friday night.
Matt Chapman had three hits and an RBI and Whit Merrifield drove in two runs as Toronto opened the second half of the season with its sixth win in seven games.
The Blue Jays are 17-7 against NL opponents.
Matt Olson hit a first-inning grand slam, Charlie Morton won his fifth straight start and the major league-leading Atlanta Braves routed the Chicago White Sox 9-0.
Baseball’s All-Star Game drew a record low in viewers for the second straight year. The National League’s 3-2 win over the American League in Seattle on Tuesday night was seen by 7,006,000 viewers on Fox, down from 7.51 million last year.
Elias Díaz may be the most unlikely All-Star MVP. Just 3 1/2 years after Pittsburgh failed to offer a contract and allowed him to become a free agent, his go-ahead, two-run homer off Félix Bautista in the eighth inning lifted the National League over the American 3-2.
Across baseball, players are embracing practices like barefoot walking and breathing sessions to keep their minds as healthy as their bodies for the long haul of a pressure-packed baseball season.
Guerrero led off the second with a 426-foot drive off Arizona starter Ryne Nelson for his 14th home run.
Guerrero won the All-Star Home Run Derby in Seattle on Monday night, matching Vladimir Guerrero Sr.’s 2007 title to become the first father-son duo to accomplish the feat. The younger Guerrero is the first Blue Jays player to win a Home Run Derby crown.
Arizona made two errors and had three runners thrown out on the bases, including two in the first inning. The Diamondbacks have lost six of eight.
The teams met for the first time since an offseason trade that sent outfielder Daulton Varsho north of the border in exchange for outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and catcher Gabriel Moreno. Both former Blue Jays players were cheered during pregame introductions, and Gurriel received an ovation before his first at-bat as the designated hitter.
Belt drove in Kevin Kiermaier with a fielder’s choice grounder in the seventh when the Diamondbacks couldn’t turn a double play on Belt’s grounder to second. George Springer’s slide into the legs of shortstop Geraldo Perdomo helped prolong a five-run inning for Toronto.
Guerrero followed with a base hit, Chapman hit an RBI double and Merrifield made it 6-2 with a two-run single.
Merrifield later scored on a throwing error by second baseman Ketel Marte.
Blue Jays right-hander Trevor Richards (1-1) pitched 1 2/3 innings for the win despite allowing Moreno’s game-tying home run in the top of the seventh.
Diamondbacks reliever Kyle Nelson (4-2) took the loss, retiring just one of the three batters he faced.
Kiermaier made it 2-0 in the second with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly, but Merrifield was thrown out at second base to end the inning.
Arizona cut the deficit in half in the fourth when Marte scored on a wild pitch by Blue Jays right-hander José Berríos.
Berríos allowed one run and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out four.
Moreno tied it by homering off Richards in the seventh, his third.
Ryne Nelson gave up two runs, one earned, and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Blue Jays: LHP Hyun Jin Ryu (Tommy John surgery) will pitch for Triple-A Buffalo Saturday. Ryu pitched four scoreless innings in his previous rehab start, July 9 with Class-A Dunedin.
FAST BALL
Indy 500 champion Josef Newgarden, in town for Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto, threw out the first pitch.
UP NEXT
Blue Jays RHP Kevin Gausman (7-5, 3.03 ERA) starts Saturday against Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (11-3, 3.04 ERA). Gausman is 6-1 with a 2.22 ERA in nine career games against Arizona. Gallen has never faced Toronto.
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