 after going 0 for 2 against Jackson.''He's always been a tough at-bat for me,'' Crawford said. ''Threw me a nasty cutter in my second at-bat, and has always mixed speeds with his slider and changeup.'' Toronto has four starting pitchers on the injured list, including right-handers Clay Buchholz (shoulder) and Matt Shoemaker (out for the season after knee surgery), and left-handers Ryan Borucki (elbow) and Clayton Richard (right knee).Jackson, who made his 306th big league start, is 104-123 in 17 big league seasons.He gets paid at the rate of a $2 million salary while in the majors and can earn $500,000 in performance bonuses based on starts: $150,000 each for 15 and 18, and $200,000 for 20.Mark Melancon (1-0) pitched out of a first-and-third, no-outs jam in the sixth for the win. Will Smith struck out the side in the ninth to remain perfect in 11 save chances.Aramis Garcia also homered for San Francisco.Toronto leadoff hitter Brandon Drury singled and scored three runs. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. walked and had an RBI groundout in four plate appearances, one day after the 20-year-old becoming the third-youngest player to hit his first two major league home runs in the same game.Freddy Galvis hit an RBI double in the first, but Jackson gave up a run-scoring double to Pablo Sandoval in the bottom half. Garcia hit a two-run homer in the second after right fielder Billy McKinney dropped Kevin Pillar's short fly ball for an error.EFFECTIVE DEBUTGiants starter Shaun Anderson also gave up three runs - two earned - in five innings but allowed just two hits. He threw a run-scoring wild pitch in the third and allowed Guerrero's tying grounder in the fifth.''We didn't play our best defense and they got a couple of cheap runs but overall I thought he did a nice job,'' manager Bruce Bochy said. ''Couldn't get a hit to blow it open but he did his job.'' MOVESToronto LHP Thomas Pannone was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo after going 1-3 with a 6.85 ERA in 14 games for the Blue Jays. RHP David Phelps and Shoemaker were transferred to the 60-day IL. Toronto also claimed RHP Jimmy Cordero off of waivers from Washington and optioned him to Buffalo. Cordero has not pitched in the majors this season. The 27-year-old was 1-2 with a 5.68 ERA in 22 games with the Nationals in 2018.TRAINER'S ROOMGiants: 1B Brandon Belt was rested because of a sore right knee. With an off day Thursday, the hope is that the inflammation in Belt's knee will go down. ... RHP Johnny Cueto (Tommy Jogn surgery) is expected to throw a 40-pitch bullpen Saturday in Arizona.UP NEXTBlue Jays: RHP Marcus Stroman (1-6, 3.12 ERA) makes his second straight start against the White Sox when Toronto begins a four-game series in Chicago on Thursday. Stroman allowed three runs in 6 1/3 innings and took the loss on Saturday.Giants: RHP Jeff Samardzija (2-1, 3.51) pitches against Arizona on Friday for the first time since 2017. Samardzija has struggled this season and has made it past five innings twice in eight starts.---More MLB:?https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and?https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Vlad Jr. seeks encore as Jays oppose Giants Vladimir Guerrero Jr. finally displayed the abilities that earned him the label as the top prospect in baseball.The 20-year-old was a showstopper in his 14th major league game, hitting the first two homers of his career Tuesday. He looks to inflict more damage Wednesday when the Toronto Blue Jays visit the San Francisco Giants in the finale of a two-game set.The son of Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero was 3-for-4 with four RBIs in Toronto's 7-3 win over the Giants in the series opener. The homers, both to center field, traveled 438 and 451 feet as Toronto won for just the third time in the past 13 games."That was fun to watch," Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said postgame. "We knew that was coming. Glad it's here."He's that good. He could carry a team if he gets hot. I don't want to put a lot of pressure on him, but he's the No. 1 prospect." Guerrero was just 9-for-47 (.191) with one RBI entering play Tuesday.His first blast made him the youngest player in franchise history to homer at 20 years, 59 days. The previous mark was held by Danny Ainge (20 years, 77 days in 1979), a two-sport player who is now the general manager for the NBA's Boston Celtics.Guerrero told reporters through a team translator that he listened to advice from his father."Like he always told me, 'Don't look for home runs. They're going to come,'" Guerrero said. "I'm going to give both balls and the bat to my dad. I'm going to keep using everything that I used today except the bat that I really want to give to my dad." Giants manager Bruce Bochy was mighty impressed with what he witnessed."This kid is going to be a great player, he really is," Bochy said. "You saw the bat speed, you saw how fast the ball comes off his bat. I've seen his dad hit balls like that." Guerrero will be facing highly regarded right-hander Shaun Anderson in the series finale. Anderson, rated as the Giants' fourth-best prospect by MLB Pipeline, will be called up on Wednesday to make his major league debut. The 24-year-old is 2-1 with a 4.11 ERA in seven starts for Triple-A Sacramento."He's a guy that's throwing as well as anybody," Bochy said in reference to the organization's Triple-A arms. "So that's why he's here." Anderson was one of two minor-leaguers acquired from Boston in July 2017 when the Giants sent Eduardo Nunez to the Red Sox.Toronto will activate journeyman Edwin Jackson prior to Wednesday's game to make his club debut. The 35-year-old veteran was acquired from the Oakland Athletics on Saturday for cash.Once the game begins, Jackson will set a major league record by playing for his 14th different team. He currently shares the record with former reliever Octavio Dotel (1999-2013)."It's a fun trivia fact," Jackson told Toronto reporters on Tuesday. "For me, I'm just blessed and happy to be back where I feel I can pitch. I feel like I'm a major league player and I've proven I can play in the big leagues. I'm very grateful." Jackson is 104-123 with a 4.60 ERA in 394 appearances (305 starts) since first reaching the majors in 2003. This will mark his first major league appearance in 2019. He was 1-0 with a 3.75 ERA in three appearances for two Athletics farm teams this year."To tell you the truth, I haven't seen him pitch for a while," Montoyo said of Jackson. "But I know he's a gamer and I know he competes because I've seen him many times." Jackson is 5-6 with a 4.54 ERA in 14 career appearances (13 starts) against the Giants.San Francisco, which got a two-run homer from Pablo Sandoval on Tuesday, has lost four of its past five games.--Field Level Media
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