Bichette's grand slam leads Blue Jays past White Sox to avoid series sweep

Bo Bichette hit a grand slam and Alejandro Kirk homered for the second straight game, leading Ross Stripling and the Toronto Blue Jays over the injury-riddled Chicago White Sox 9-5 Wednesday.

Bichette's second career slam capped a five-run fourth inning as the Blue Jays avoided a three-game series sweep.

Kirk hit an RBI single in the first and a homer to center in the third. He tops All-Star fan voting for AL catchers and leads all qualified major league catchers in batting average (.307) and OPS (.857).

Lucas Giolito (4-4) allowed seven runs on a season-high 11 hits in five innings. He has a 9.47 ERA in his last five starts.

Kirk is 4 for 9 with three home runs and six RBIs lifetime against Giolito.

Stripling (4-2) gave up one run in six innings. He scattered five hits and didn't allow a runner past second until Josh Harrison scored from first on a single by Luis Robert in the sixth.

Stripling has allowed 12 hits over his last 20 2/3 innings, posting a 1.31 ERA in his last four starts.

The White Sox collected seven hits in the final three innings after Stripling departed. They scored three times in the eighth and brought the potential tying run to the plate, but Leury Garcia grounded.

Goodbye & Good Riddance