Kevin Gausman pitched seven effective innings against his former team as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the San Francisco Giants 5-3 on Thursday.
Gausman (7-8) allowed two runs and six hits in his first start at Oracle Park since 2021, when he was with the Giants. He struck out three batters.
“There were definitely a lot of special memories,” he said. “There aren’t a lot of people left that I know on their own, but I really respect everyone.”
Danny Jansen and Spencer Horwitz homered for Toronto, which has won two of three in the series against the Giants and has won four of its last five games.
“I think we’ve had some really good plate appearances lately. It’s contagious,” Jansen said. “We feed off each other and we’re a unified approach. We’re chasing balls in the middle of the zone. It was a really good game and a good series.”
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Justin Turner and Leo Jimenez also drove in a run for the Blue Jays. Kevin Kiermaier had two hits and stole a base hit from Matt Chapman in the fourth inning.
Heliot Ramos and Mike Yastrzemski homered for the Giants, who have lost four of their last five games.
Jordan Hicks (4-6) dropped his fifth straight decision, allowing five runs, eight hits and a walk in 4 1/3 innings against his former team. He made 25 relief appearances for the Blue Jays in 2023.
“Overall, it wasn’t very good,” Hicks said. “It wasn’t my best performance. I feel like four grounders went by, along with the two home runs. It’s unfortunate, but I’m going to keep fighting.”
Jansen hit his sixth home run of the season to cap a three-run first-inning drive by the visitors. It was his first home run since May 20.
“It definitely felt good,” Jansen said. “I’ve been working harder for weeks, but I’m still trying to get good at-bats and pass the baton to the next batter. Being able to hit a ball hard feels good.”
Ramos responded with a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning, which puts him on the Giants lead with 14 homers this season.
Jimenez drove in Davis Schneider in the fourth inning, driving in his first career major league run. Horwitz added his fourth four-run homer of the season in the fifth.
Yastrzemski homered off reliever Chad Green with two outs in the ninth inning. Green bounced back by swinging out Wilmer Flores for his fifth save of the season.