Blue Jays Edge Phillies 2-1 on Kirk's Walk-Off Hit

Wednesday, June 4th, 2025

Alejandro Kirk drove in the winning run in the ninth inning and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 on Wednesday night.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a one-out single off former teammate Jordan Romano (4-2) and stole second base. Addison Barger struck out but Kirk won it with a line drive that hit off the wall in right field.

Former Phillies reliever Jeff Hoffman (5-2) got one out for the win.

Nick Castellanos opened the scoring with a solo home run off Blue Jays right-hander José Berríos in the second.

Toronto chased right-hander Mick Abel and tied it in the sixth when Bo Bichette’s triple scored Andrés Giménez.

The run was the first allowed by Abel in his brief big league career. Abel struck out nine in six shutout innings to win his major league debut against Pittsburgh on May 18 as the Phillies beat Pirates star Paul Skenes to finish a three-game sweep.

Against the Blue Jays, Abel allowed one run and three hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out two and walked none for the second straight start.

Abel is the first pitcher in at least the last 125 seasons with 5-plus innings, no walks and one or zero runs allowed in each of his first two MLB appearances.

The Phillies recalled Abel from Triple-A Lehigh Valley earlier Wednesday. He took the roster spot of righty Zack Wheeler, who went on the paternity list.

Berríos allowed one run and four hits in six innings.

Key moment

Phillies catcher JT Realmuto exited in the bottom of the ninth after being hit in the groin by Bichette’s foul tip. Realmuto stayed down for a few minutes before walking gingerly off the field. He was replaced by Rafael Marchán.

Key stat

The Phillies fell to 29-8 when scoring first.

Up next

Phillies LHP Jesús Luzardo (5-1, 3.58 ERA) is scheduled to start against Blue Jays RHP Chris Bassitt (5-3, 3.80) in Thursday’s series finale.

In summary

The Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 on June 4, 2025, with Alejandro Kirk hitting a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled and stole second to set up the winning run. Jeff Hoffman earned the win for Toronto. Nick Castellanos hit a solo homer for the Phillies' only run off Blue Jays starter José Berríos. The Blue Jays tied the game in the sixth inning against Phillies rookie Mick Abel, who allowed his first career run. Abel had a strong outing, striking out two in 5 1/3 innings. Phillies catcher JT Realmuto left the game in the ninth after a foul tip. The loss marked the Phillies' eighth defeat when scoring first this season. The two teams are scheduled to play the series finale on Thursday.

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