Alejandro Kirk hit two homers and drove in six runs to power the Blue Jays to a 13-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday to give Toronto its first American League East Division title since 2015.
Kirk hit his first career grand slam in Toronto’s five-run first inning and added a two-run shot in the fifth.
The Blue Jays put the game away with a five-run seventh inning. Addison Barger and George Springer homered for Toronto in the frame.
Toronto secured the top seed in the AL at 94-68 and will have home-field advantage when the best-of-five division series begins Saturday at Rogers Centre.
The Blue Jays started the day needing a victory or a New York Yankees loss to Baltimore to secure a first-place finish.
Toronto set the tone early in front of a sellout crowd of 42,083 on a glorious autumn afternoon.
After Ian Seymour (4-3) issued back-to-back walks, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. drove in a run to put Toronto on the board. Daulton Varsho singled to load the bases before Kirk’s 387-yard blast over the wall in left field.
The plucky Rays made it a one-run game by scoring three runs in the third inning against Toronto starter Kevin Gausman, who was pulled after Tampa Bay loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth.
Mason Fluharty came on and struck out Jonathan Aranda to escape the jam. In the fifth inning, Kirk launched a 419-foot blast to straightaway centre field.
It was Toronto’s fourth straight win. The second-place Yankees beat the Orioles 3-2 but will have to settle for an appearance in the wild-card series.
The Rays (77-85) fell to a season-worst eight games under .500.
TAKEAWAYS
Blue Jays: Toronto used a selective approach against Seymour and it paid off in the opening frame. The left-hander struck out a pair after Kirk’s grand slam but still threw 40 pitches in the inning.
Rays: Tampa Bay rested several regulars for the finale of the three-game series. It was the first time since Sept. 25-27, 2015, that the Rays have been swept by the Blue Jays.
KEY MOMENT
Kirk turned on a change-up for his grand slam to send the raucous crowd into a tizzy.
KEY STAT
It’s the seventh time in team history that the Blue Jays have won a division title.
COMING UP
The Blue Jays will have five days off before Game 1 of the American League Division Series. They will face the winner of the three-game wild-card series between New York and the Boston Red Sox.
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