Smith, Gimenez Go Deep as Blue Jays Survive Philly's Late Charge

Josh Smith scored three runs and hit a 383-foot homer to right center, doing more damage in one night than most lineups manage in a series. Toronto escaped Philadelphia 5-4 on August 7, holding off a ninth-inning rally that made things far more interesting than they needed to be.

The Blue Jays took the lead early and never fully surrendered it, but this game had enough twists to keep everyone honest. Andres Gimenez got Toronto on the board in the second with a 346-foot shot to right. Philadelphia answered immediately — Marsh scored on a fielding error by left fielder Sánchez on a Realmuto single, knotting it at one. The teams traded punches through the third: Alejandro Kirk's sacrifice fly to center scored Bateman to put Toronto back ahead, then Harper singled to right to score Schwarber and tie it again at two. Four lead changes in three innings. The game had a pulse.

The real turning point came in the fourth. Nathan Lukes singled to right, scoring Smith and moving Bateman to third — and the win probability swung from 61% in Philadelphia's favor to 46%, a 15-point shift that effectively flipped the game's center of gravity. Kirk added another sacrifice fly in the sixth, again scoring Smith, pushing the lead to 5-2. Then Smith himself put the dagger in with that 383-foot blast in the eighth. At that point, it looked like a comfortable Toronto win. It was not. Philadelphia's ninth-inning push — a fielder's choice that scored Stott, then Harper's infield single that scored Crawford — cut it to 5-4 and loaded the tension back into the building. Toronto's bullpen held, but just barely.

The story of the night was Smith, who went 3-for-4 with a homer, an RBI, and three runs scored — a complete offensive performance that carried the Blue Jays when their starting pitcher couldn't. Jose Soriano lasted only 4.2 innings, allowing 1 earned run on 4 hits and 3 walks. Zack Wheeler was sharper in stretches — 6 strikeouts — but surrendered 7 hits and 4 earned runs across 5.1 innings, walking five. Toronto's bullpen arms, Lazaro Estrada (1.1 IP, no hits, no earned runs) and Matt Waldron (1.0 IP, no hits, no earned runs), did the quiet, necessary work to preserve the win. Bryce Harper went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI and gave Philadelphia every chance to steal this one, but Toronto's early lead proved just wide enough to survive.