Valenzuela the hero as Blue Jays rally to take down Phillies 3-2 in wild finish

Toronto Blue Jays' Brandon Valenzuela (59) celebrates his walk off game-winning RBI single during ninth inning MLB baseball action against the Philadelphia Phillies, in Toronto, on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sammy Kogan

TORONTO — Brandon Valenzuela hit a walk-off RBI single in the ninth inning as the Toronto Blue Jays rallied to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 on Tuesday.

Bryson Stott hit a tiebreaking RBI double in the top of the inning to give the visitors a 2-1 lead.

But the Blue Jays had other plans, as Jhoan Duran fell apart in an attempt to earn a save. Myles Straw scored from third base on a wild pitch, with Valenzuela bringing Daulton Varsho home on the next at-bat.

Dylan Cease returned from a stint on the injured list to strike out 11 batters and only surrendered three hits, one walk and one run in six innings for Toronto (33-35). He was relieved by Jeff Hoffman, Mason Fluharty and Louis Varland (3-1).

Starter Zack Wheeler gave up six hits and a walk to go along with five strikeouts across six innings for Philadelphia (36-31). Orion Kerkering, Jose Alvarado and Duran (1-3) came on in relief.

Brandon Marsh opened the scoring with an RBI double in the first inning to drive home Trea Turner from third base.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. finally broke his hitless streak with a single in the third. It did come with some help as Alec Bohm’s throw from third took Bryce Harper away from the bag to retrieve it and Guerrero made it safely.

Jesus Sanchez knotted the score at 1-1 for the Jays with a homer to right-centre field in the sixth.

Takeaways

Phillies: This was a completely different offensive showing from that of Monday night, as Philadelphia could not sort out Cease. Any momentum that could have been built from Marsh’s RBI was left out to dry as Cease reached 10 strikeouts before finishing a full six innings of work.

Blue Jays: The team made quite the change having Guerrero bat first in the lineup and as a designated hitter, with Charles McAdoo handling first-base duties. Guerrero pumped his fists to cheers from the 41,079 at Rogers Centre after snapping a run of 15 straight at-bats without a hit.

Key moment

Duran’s wild pitch sealed what was a troublesome effort to earn a save.

Key stat

Ernie Clement entered Tuesday’s game leading the American League in hits (79) and doubles (19), while ranking fourth in batting average (. 309).

Up next

Max Scherzer (1-3, 9.64 ERA) will take the mound for Toronto for the first time since April 24 after hitting the injured list on April 25 with forearm and ankle injuries. Philadelphia will counter with Jesus Luzardo (4-4, 4.56 ERA).

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 9, 2026.

Abdulhamid Ibrahim, The Canadian Press