Bichette's bases-clearing double leads Jays past Pirates

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Bo Bichette hit a tiebreaking three-run double in the seventh inning to lift the Toronto Blue Jays to a 4-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday night.

The Blue Jays won for the fourth time in five games and maintained their lead for the third and final wild card in the American League. Toronto drew within six games of the division-leading New York Yankees in the AL East race.

George Springer and Bichette each had two hits for the Blue Jays, who can sweep the three-game series Sunday.

With the score tied 1-1, the Blue Jays loaded the bases against Duane Underwood Jr. (1-4) in the seventh on a single by Springer and walks to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Matt Chapman. Bichette then doubled to left field with two outs on the 10th pitch of the at-bat.

“Just never give in,” Bichette said of his approach to a lengthy plate appearance. “Don’t let him speed me up. Just trust my ability, trust in who I am.”

Underwood threw 37 pitches in the inning before being lifted after Bichette’s hit.

Bichette is hitting .362 in his last 12 games.

“If you look at the battle by Bo, the approach with two strikes and fouling balls off and getting his pitch to hit, it’s just a testament to the competitor he is,” Blue Jays interim manager John Schneider said. “He’s really, really good right now. “We’re talking about an elite hitter with bat-to-ball skills that not many people have.”

Pirates rookie Oneil Cruz opened the scoring with a run-scoring triple to the right-center field gap in third inning. The Blue Jays tied it an inning later when Raimel Tapia’s groundout scored Bichette, who led off with a single.

Yimi Garcia (4-4) got the win as the third of seven Blue Jays’ pitchers in a bullpen game. Garcia retired all four