MLB: The Blue Jays are suffering a second straight sweep

Stephen Cowan and Josh Naylor hit a solo home run to help the Cleveland Guardians beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 on Sunday.

The Guardians, leaders of the American Central Division, notched a fifth straight win and found themselves above the .500 mark in 23 games.

The Guardians and their rookie manager, Steven Vogt, have the best home run record in the majors at 26-9, and an eight-game lead over the Minnesota Twins.

“(Cowan) leads us. When he's good, everyone's good,” Naylor said. “I don't think we could thank him more enough. He's an unbelievable teammate and an unbelievable human being.”

Tim Herren (3-0) recorded the victory after shutting out the Blue Jays in the fourth inning. Emmanuel Clase earned his 24th save of the season, an American record, when he retired George Springer to end the game.

“Our guys raised their game again,” Vogt said. Kwane doesn't miss mistakes from shooters and Josh, it's impressive what he accomplishes. »

Rookie Spencer Horowitz hit two solo long balls while Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a two-run homer for Toronto, which lost its sixth straight game. The Blue Jays have been swept in two straight series for the first time since 2019.

“We've had our chances, but our starting pitchers have had some unusual starts lately,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. The story of the season is that we're not hitting as many home runs and allowing too many home runs. »

Cowan has hit two balls in five plate appearances and has a .390 batting average. He is just 11 games away from qualifying for the top spot in the major leagues in average.

Naylor, who tied a career-high with his 20th hit on four bases, also had a single and a double in addition to scoring two runs.

“The numbers speak for themselves,” Cowan said. It's nice. »

The Guardians took a 4-3 lead thanks to three runs in the third inning. The latter was singled out by Blue Jays outfielder Yusei Kikuchi (4-7).

Cowan and Naylor hit solo home runs in the fourth inning. The first against Zach Pope and the second against Brendon Little, making the score 6-3.

Jose Ramirez scored two runs in the Guardians' first three innings. Angel Martinez drove him to a runner-up finish in his first career major league hit.