TORONTO — Shea Langeliers belted his third career grand slam in the seventh inning, but the Athletics couldn’t hold a 6-2 lead and lost 8-7 to the Toronto Blue Jays in 11 innings on Saturday at Rogers Centre.
Ernie Clement delivered a one-out single to left off Luis Medina (0-1) in the bottom of the 11th, scoring Nathan Lukes to give Toronto its second straight walk-off win. The Blue Jays also won Friday’s opener on a walk-off hit.
Toronto rookie Spencer Miles (1-0) earned his first major league win by pitching a scoreless top of the 11th in his debut.
The Athletics trailed 2-1 entering the seventh, then erupted for five runs. Toronto left-hander Mason Fluharty started the inning but left after being struck on the right leg by consecutive infield singles. Lefty Brendon Little came on and struck out pinch hitter Andy Ibañez, but both runners advanced on a double steal before Denzel Clarke tied the game with an infield single. Nick Kurtz walked to load the bases, and Langeliers chased Little with a 420-foot drive to center field.
Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk tied the game with a solo homer off Michael Kelly in the bottom of the ninth, Toronto’s first home run of the season. Brent Rooker’s two-out single in the top of the 10th gave the A’s a 7-6 lead, but Addison Barger tied it with a sacrifice fly in the bottom half.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had an RBI single in the seventh, and Toronto cut the gap to one in the eighth on RBI hits by Jesús Sánchez and Andrés Giménez.
Dylan Cease set a Blue Jays record by striking out 12 in his Toronto debut, including seven consecutive batters. He fanned Tyler Soderstrom to end the third and struck out the side in the fourth and fifth.
Langeliers, who homered twice in Friday’s loss, went 2 for 4 with a walk.
The Athletics plan to relocate to Las Vegas in 2028, when they are scheduled to open a new ballpark on the Strip.
Up next: Left-hander Eric Lauer starts for the Blue Jays in Sunday’s series finale, while right-hander Luis Morales takes the mound for the Athletics.
