Kevin Pillar hit a single to right field to score the game-winning run and lift the Blue Jays to a 5-4 win over the Twins, Monday night.
The tough loss comes at the start of a difficult nine-game road trip for the Twins.
Pillar came into the game as a replacement for Melky Cabrera in left field. He was hitting just .229 before the single off of Twins reliever Casey Fien.
Fien gave up two hits, without recording an out in the bottom of the ninth. Matt Guerrier, who issued a one-out walk in the ninth, was tagged with the loss.
Blue Jays closer Casey Janssen blew the save, but picked up the win.
The loss was especially tough for Minnesota because it came after the team had rallied in the top of the 9th inning to tie the game.
A bloop single from Eduardo Escobar scored Kurt Suzuki with two outs in the ninth inning and allowed the Twins to pull even at four. It followed a two-out double from Suzuki to score pinch runner Eduardo Nunez to cut it to a one-run game.
It was the first runs the Twins had scored since early in the game, when Danny Santana and Brian Dozier led off the top of the first inning with back-to-back home runs.
The early lead didn’t last long, Ricky Nolasco gave up a three-run homer to Toronto’s Edwin Encarnacion that gave the Blue Jays the 3-2 lead.
Nolasco also gave up a home run to Jose Reyes to extend the Blue Jays lead to 4-2.
Caleb Thielbar and Guerrier kept the Blue Jays bats quiet long enough for the Twins to get back into the game.
But the rally was thwarted in the ninth on Pillar’s base hit.
The Twins have lost two straight and now drop four games below .500 on the season (29-33)
The Blue Jays and Twins continue the series on Tuesday night
