Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays walk off Red Sox in ninth-inning comeback

TORONTO — Moments after an emotional Vladimir Guerrero Jr. bounced his walk-off single through the left side of the infield, the Toronto Blue Jays slugger pounded his chest.

"This is our house," Guerrero yelled after his teammate George Springer touched home with the winning run for a wild 6-5 victory against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday.

It was the Blue Jays (42-32) second win in a row to begin their three-game set against the rival Red Sox (42-33) and pushed Toronto past Boston in the battle for the first wild-card spot in the American League.

But before the Blue Jays could overcome a 5-4 deficit in the ninth inning before 27,140 in their "house," the Rogers Centre, second baseman Santiago Espinal and catcher Alejandro Kirk delivered to provide a spark.

Espinal made a leaping catch off a Christian Arroyo line drive and doubled off Christian Vazquez at second base. The outstanding defensive play snuffed out a Red Sox rally in the eighth inning.

Kirk had the night off. At least, he thought he did. But Major League Baseball's best hitting catcher with a .325 average was called upon to pinch-hit and lead off the ninth inning.

He slammed a single to left field. Guerrero, who was to hit fourth in the inning, had already told Toronto manager Charlie Montoyo that if he was going to go up, the game was over.

"You know Charlie, he gets nervous," Guerrero said through an interpreter when asked for his manager's reaction. "'Well,' he said. 'I trust you guys if you say so.'"

The single was Guerrero's second career walk-off hit and second in two weeks.

"When I saw (Kirk) was going to pinch-hit and then he got a base hit, I knew right there and then we were going to win," Guerrero said.

Kirk leads his position in the AL voting for