Berrios ties career high with 13 strikeouts as Blue Jays beat Phillies to snap 4-game skid

After a miserable 1-6 road trip, the Toronto Blue Jays kicked off a two-game interleague series with a much-needed 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night.

Jose Berrios tied a career-high with 13 strikeouts over six solid innings to help the Blue Jays end a four-game losing skid.

"This win means a lot for us," Berrios said. "We had a tough road trip but we got that off-day [Monday] and we tried to turn that page. We came in today and [got] the win. We want to keep rolling for this homestand."

Lourdes Gurriel Jr., had four hits and Teoscar Hernandez drove in two runs as Toronto (46-42) picked up its second win in 11 games.

"He was nasty out there," said Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen.

Tim Mayza and Yimi Garcia threw an inning apiece before Canadian Jordan Romano closed it out for his 19th save.

Toronto moved into sole possession of the third American League wild-card spot with the victory. The Blue Jays remained two games ahead of last-place Baltimore — now a .500 team after topping the Chicago Cubs 4-2 for their ninth straight win — in the East Division standings.

Philadelphia opener Andrew Bellatti gave up two runs in his lone inning of work. Hernandez drove in George Springer and Bo Bichette with a two-out gapper but was thrown out while trying to extend it to a triple.

The Phillies halved the lead in the second inning by hitting three straight singles against Berrios. An infield hit by Odubel Herrera brought home Bryson Stott but Berrios got Garrett Stubbs on a flyout to keep it a one-run game.

Stott pulled Philadelphia level in the fourth inning with a solo shot. It was his fifth homer of the year.

Mark Appel kept the Blue Jays off the scoreboard until the bottom of the fourth when Gurriel and Matt Chapman hit back-to-back doubles to make it 3-2.

Springer makes highlight-reel catch

The Phillies tied it again in the fifth when Nick Castellanos drove in Stubbs with a seeing-eye single. Springer made a highlight-reel diving catch earlier in the inning off a Kyle Schwarber drive to help prevent a big frame.

"That play was huge," said Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo. "That gave us some momentum. That was a big play in this game."

Toronto went ahead to stay in the sixth inning as Gurriel's ground-rule double scored Alejandro Kirk and moved Hernandez to third. Chapman walked to load the bases but reliever Corey Knebel got Santiago Espinal to pop up and Jansen on a comebacker.

It was the ninth quality start of the season for Berrios, who induced a season-high 20 swing-and-misses.

"First-pitch strikes, using all his pitches and throwing all his pitches for strikes," said Phillies manager Rob Thomson. "You've got to give him credit. He was really good."

Thomson became the first Canadian-born skipper to manage a Major League Baseball game in his home country.

The native of Sarnia, Ont., served as bench coach until taking over from the fired Joe Girardi on June 3.

Toronto outhit Philadelphia 14-7. Announced attendance was 32,795 and the game took two hours 52 minutes to play.

Blue Jays option Moreno to Triple-A

The Blue Jays reinstated Jansen from the 10-day injured list earlier on Tuesday and optioned fellow catcher Gabriel Moreno to Triple-A Buffalo.

Jansen missed five weeks due to a fractured left pinky finger. He also missed a month of action earlier in the season due to an oblique strain.

Jansen has seven homers and 13 RBIs in 19 games this season. He has a .232 average, a .625 slugging percentage and .915 OPS (on-base plus slugging).

The 22-year-old Moreno, who's considered Toronto's top prospect, drove in four runs and had a .276 average in 18 games.