Alejandro Kirk delivers Blue Jays' walk-off win off former teammate Jordan Romano

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The night was short on runs, but high drama set in Wednesday as the Blue Jays and visiting Phillies battled in the second game of their three-game series.

Make no mistake, this loomed as a big series for the Blue Jays and an even bigger game following their ugly 8-3 setback the night before.

To add spice to the evening, a battle of closers ensued with Jeff Hoffman being summoned from the bullpen with two outs in the top of the ninth inning for the Jays.

Jordan Romano entered the game for the visitors to begin the bottom of the inning as the Markham native faced his former team for the first time.

And it was Alejandro Kirk greeting Romano with a two-out walk-off single and a 2-1 win.

The following are three takeaways on a night Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled in the ninth to extend his on-base streak to 34 games and promptly stole second base before crossing home plate to score the game-winning run.

1. Berrios in survival mode

At least Jose Berrios got out of the first inning without yielding six runs, a fate that befell embattled Bowden Francis on Tuesday night.

Like Francis, Berrios has been prone to serve up home runs. He’s nowhere near as homer-susceptible, but did yield a solo blast to Nick Castellanos as the Phillies jumped out first. It was the  11th dinger surrendered by Berrios in 13 starts this season.

Berrios also ran into trouble in the fifth inning when he faced a bases-loaded situation with one out. He got Bryson Stott to pop out to third base, then Trea Turner, who homered twice in Tuesday’s win, to fly out to right.

It was a big sequence for Berrios at a time when the inning could have gone sideways, a big moment that kept the Jays competitive.

Berrios would complete six innings to earn the no-decision.

2. Addison rises

Starting at third base, Addison Barger entered the game having homered in four consecutive outings.

In his first at-bat, Barger, batting third, took a big-boy hack on a swinging strikeout.

In his second, he hit a routine fly ball to right field.

In his third at-bat, Barger came to plate with two outs and a runner at third in a 1-1 game and struck out swinging.

And finally, with the winning run at second in the ninth, Barger struck out yet again.

3. Lines in the sand

One night after Davis Schneider provided the team with its first hit of the game and would later go deep to record his first homer of the season, Schneider was not in the starting lineup.

A player has a good outing and one would figure he deserves to keep, or at least attempt, the good vibes moving forward.

Wednesday’s outfield configuration featured Alan Roden in left, Jonatan Clase in centre and Nathan Lukes in right.

For the second time since he was activated off the injured list, infielder Andres Gimenez hit ninth in the order. It’s far too premature to make any definitive judgment on Gimenez, but his time in Toronto has not gone well.

Two-thirds of Toronto’s bottom of the order entered the night hitting below .200 in Roden (.176) and Gimenez (.191).

After his second hit on the night, Gimenez raised his average to .203 and would come around to score on a Bo Bichette one-out triple in the sixth inning.

Up next

The series finale pits two starters who have each earned five wins. In Chris Bassitt, the Jays are hoping their veteran right-hander bounces back from a poor outing against the Athletics. Even though Bassitt was credited with the win, he did give up five runs in five innings … His Philly counterpart, lefty Jesus Luzardo, was simply horrible in giving up 12 runs in 3.1 innings against Milwaukee in his most recent start.

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