TORONTO – Like a golfer admiring a drive, Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. crushed a home run on Tuesday and couldn’t help but hold the pose for an extra second to watch the ball fly over the wall.

Teammate Addison Barger provided some theatre of his own with a no-doubt blast — complete with a bat flip — in the ninth inning that gave Toronto a walkoff victory.

Bo Bichette also flashed some power with a game-tying solo homer before Barger ended it as the Blue Jays topped the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-4 for their 22nd comeback win of the season.

“Huge swing from him, huge swing from Bo, both with two strikes,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “I love the way they went about it.”

It was the fifth time in franchise history that Toronto walked off a game with back-to-back homers. Barger also hit the game winner the last time it happened on Aug. 23 against the Los Angeles Angels.

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“I just don’t want to play extras,” Barger said with a laugh. “I don’t think anybody wants to play extras, so that’s all the motivation I really need.”

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Toronto (39-33) ended its three-game losing skid and improved to 23-13 at Rogers Centre.

Jeff Hoffman (6-2) threw an inning of relief for the win. Blue Jays right-hander Chris Bassitt had a quality start, allowing three earned runs and six hits over six frames.

Guerrero set the early tone with an RBI double that scored Barger in the first inning before delivering a majestic blast in the third that travelled 448 feet, a team best on the season.

“If you get the top of the order rolling, I think we’re pretty dangerous,” Schneider said.

The announced crowd of 38,537 roared as Guerrero casually dropped the bat to begin a slow trot around the bases. He was 3-for-4 on the night — his 22nd multi-hit game of the season — and had three RBIs.

Schneider moved Barger up a spot to No. 2 in the lineup between Bichette and Guerrero with Alejandro Kirk in the cleanup position.

The move paid dividends as the top third of the order scored five runs had seven of Toronto’s nine hits.

“I think Vladdy being comfortable in the three hole is real,” Schneider said. “The numbers are what they are and conversations with him are what they are.

“I’m glad it worked out today, but I think you have to have people around him to make it work.”

Diamondbacks reliever Shelby Miller (3-2) shouldered the loss as Arizona (36-36) fell back to the .500 mark. Josh Naylor of Mississauga, Ont., had two hits and a run for the Diamondbacks.

The Blue Jays had four outfielders — Will Robertson, Jonatan Clase, Myles Straw and Alan Roden — play in centre field over the course of the game.

Clase got the start but left the game after the fourth inning when he was hit by a pitch in the right knee area. He was replaced by Straw, who suffered a right ankle sprain in the next frame.

The three-game series continues on Wednesday night.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 17, 2025.

&copy 2025 The Canadian Press

TORONTO – Bo Bichette hit a game-tying homer in the ninth inning and Addison Barger followed with a walkoff blast to give the Toronto Blue Jays a 5-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night at Rogers Centre.

Diamondbacks reliever Shelby Miller (3-2) struck out Davis Schneider to open the Toronto half of the frame before Bichette hit a solo shot to left field.

Barger ended it five pitches later with a no-doubt homer inside the right-field foul screen.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. also homered for the Blue Jays, who ended their three-game losing skid. His 448-foot blast was his longest homer of the season.

Canadian Josh Naylor had two hits and a run for the Diamondbacks.

Barger and Guerrero hit back-to-back doubles in the first inning off Arizona starter Brandon Pfaadt to push the opening run across. A sliding catch by former Blue Jay Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in left field prevented further damage.

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In the fourth inning, Toronto’s Jonatan Clase was hit by a pitch in the right knee area and left the game. Myles Straw took over in centre field but was hurt in the fifth after crashing into the wall on Naylor’s RBI double.

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Straw, who suffered a right ankle sprain, was replaced by Alan Roden.

The Diamondbacks made it 4-2 in the seventh inning when Eugenio Suarez hit an RBI single that plated Ketel Marte. Guerrero singled home Bichette in the bottom half of the frame to make it a one-run game.

Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt (7-4) allowed three earned runs, six hits and a walk over six innings. He had five strikeouts. Jeff Hoffman (6-2) worked the ninth inning for the victory.

Announced attendance was 38,537 and the game took two hours 57 minutes to play.

MOMENT OF SILENCE

A moment of silence was observed before the game in honour of Dr. Ron Taylor, who won two World Series titles as a player and was a Blue Jays team physician for 30 years.

Taylor, who died Monday at age 87, was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.

ROSTER MOVES

Earlier Tuesday, the Blue Jays placed right-hander Bowden Francis on the 15-day injured list due to a right shoulder impingement and designated reliever Erik Swanson for assignment.

The team also selected left-hander Justin Bruihl to the big-league roster and recalled right-hander Paxton Schultz from Triple-A Buffalo.

COMING UP

Eric Lauer (2-1, 2.37) was expected to start for the Blue Jays (39-33) on Wednesday night against fellow southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez (2-3, 6.27) of the Diamondbacks (36-36).

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 17, 2025.

&copy 2025 The Canadian Press

A massive deficit is leading the Thames Valley District School Board to make massive cuts to staffing in an effort to save $4.7 million.

The board said in a statement it’s implementing a series of “staffing adjustments” at the central board offices as part of its ongoing financial recovery efforts.

The board would not confirm the number of cuts; a representative for the board said in a statement the cuts would result in $4.7 million in savings on salaries and benefits.

This comes amid several other changes to combat a massive deficit.

Some of these changes have taken effect immediately, and the board reports that others will be phased in over the coming months, and the 2025-2026 school year.

“The changes reflect the Board’s commitment to long-term financial sustainability and ensuring that resources are focused on supporting student learning and well-being,” a representative for the board said in a statement.

The cuts come following a weeks-long financial audit of the board following outrage over controversial sending practices.

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The report found that the financial position of TVDSB has declined from having a surplus of $3.5 million in 2020 to 2021 to an in-year deficit of $17.32 million in 2023 to 2024.

While the projected deficit for the 2024-25 school year is expected to improve slightly to $16.8 million.

The board has already implemented savings measures including the staffing cuts for the 2024 2025 school year, which would reduce $16.8 million deficit to an adjusted deficit ranging from $15.9 million to $13.7 million depending on which cuts are made.

“While these decisions are difficult, they have been made with a clear focus on securing the Board’s financial stability and ensuring that resources remain available where they are needed most. The Board is committed to providing support for staff who are impacted by these changes,” a representative for the board said in a statement.

All this comes following highly criticized spending practices and the board’s director of education stepping down in March.

In March the board announced that that the board of trustees accepted Mark Fisher’s resignation.

Fisher has been on a leave of absence since early September 2024, which took effect just days before the school board revealed the cost of an off-site planning meeting in Toronto, totaling $38,444.92.

This includes transportation, the Blue Jays’ stadium hotel, meeting spaces and food expenses.

Following the controversy over the trip, Ontario’s Ministry of Education announced an audit of the board, which resulted in them finding the $16.8 million deficit.

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