Yangervis Solarte provided power from both sides of the plate to help the Toronto Blue Jays end a record stretch of futility against left-handed pitchers.

Solarte hit two home runs [url=http://www.broncoscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-brandon-marshall-jersey]Brandon Marshall Jersey[/url] , Devon Travis also connected and the Blue Jays beat the Washington Nationals 6-5 on Friday night, their fifth straight home victory.

Washington has lost five of seven on the road.

Justin Smoak broke a 3-3 tie with a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning and Solarte, batting left-handed, followed with a two-run shot off right-hander Justin Miller. Solarte was batting right-handed when he homered in Toronto’s three-run third, a solo blast off left-hander Gio Gonzalez (6-3).

”I was lucky enough that I had good opportunities and we took advantage of it,” Solarte said.

The victory snapped Toronto’s team-worst 11-game losing streak against lefty starting pitchers.

”We’re better than that,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. ”That shouldn’t happen like that.”

Solarte is the ninth player in Blue Jays history to homer from both sides of the plate. The last to do it was Kendrys Morales against Oakland on July 27, 2017. The homers were Solarte’s 13th and 14th of the season, extending his team lead and coming a year after his career high of 18.

It’s the second time Solarte has achieved the feat, having done it also against Arizona on May 27, 2016 while with the San Diego Padres.

”It’s hard but it’s my job,” Solarte said.

Travis hit a two-run home run in the third, his third.

Seunghwan Oh (2-2) pitched one inning for the win and Ryan Tepera stranded the potential tying run at third base in the ninth to earn his fourth save in seven opportunities.

Wilmer Difo hit a leadoff single in the ninth [url=http://www.bengalscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-jake-fisher-jersey]Jake Fisher Jersey[/url] , then stole second and advanced on a fly ball. Tepera escaped by getting Adam Eaton to ground out and striking out Trea Turner.

Gonzalez allowed season-worsts of five runs and nine hits in six-plus innings. The left-hander has allowed four or more earned runs in consecutive outings.

Travis singled to begin the seventh and Teoscar Hernandez followed with a fly ball that right fielder Eaton lost in the twilight.

”I had it off the bat but as soon as it goes up, it’s a pretty helpless feeling,” Eaton said.

After the ball dropped for a ground-rule double, Miller came on and surrendered Smoak’s sacrifice fly and Solarte’s two-run blast.

”We had one fly ball that we didn’t see that kind of changed things real quick,” Washington manager Dave Martinez said.

The homer was the first earned run allowed by Miller in nine appearances this season.

”I was trying to throw a fastball away and it just kind of cut on me,” Miller said. ”Hats off to him, he hit a good pitch.”

Aaron Sanchez allowed three runs and six hits in six innings for Toronto.

GREEN LIGHT

The Blue Jays have hit an ML-leading six home runs on 3-0 counts this season. No other team had more than two entering play Friday.

FIRST OF THE SEASON

Washington’s Daniel Murphy singled in the eighth, snapping a 0-for-10 stretch since he returned from right knee surgery Tuesday.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Nationals: 1B Matt Adams took a pitch off his left hand while squaring to bunt in the second. Mark Reynolds replaced Adams on defense an inning later. ”I knew from the get-go it was bad,” Adams said. He is day to day. Murphy will DH against the Blue Jays this weekend and return to the infield Monday when Washington returns home to face the Yankees.

Blue Jays: One week after he became eligible to be activated off the disabled list, 3B Josh Donaldson (left calf) has yet to run at full speed. Donaldson may play at least one minor league rehab game with Triple-A Buffalo before rejoining the Blue Jays. … RHP Marcus Stroman (shoulder) will make a second rehab start Monday, this time at Double-A New Hampshire. Stroman pitched 4 1/3 innings at Class-A Dunedin Wednesday. … OF Steve Pearce (oblique) will begin a rehab assignment at Buffalo Saturday. Pearce has not played since May 3. … RHP Deck McGuire was claimed off waivers by the Texas Rangers.

UP NEXT

Nationals RHP Max Scherzer (10-2, 2.00) faces Blue Jays RHP Marco Estrads (3-6, 5.09). Scherzer is 4-1 with a 2.15 ERA in eight career starts against Toronto. His June 10 loss against San Francisco snapped a streak of nine straight winning decisions. Estrada beat Baltimore on June 10 [url=http://www.jaguarscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-dj-chark-jersey]DJ Chark Jersey[/url] , ending an eight-start winless stretch.

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The Winnipeg Jets were in rhythm and the Vegas Golden Knights looked rusty.

Or, maybe the Jets are just that good.

Dustin Byfuglien scored about a minute after the puck dropped and Winnipeg built a three-goal lead early in the first period and went on to beat Vegas 4-2 on Saturday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.

While the Jets played at home less than 48 hours after advancing past top-seeded Nashville on the road, the Golden Knights were off for nearly a week after eliminating San Jose in the second round.

”We didn’t have much of a rest,” Byfuglien said. ”We’re still in game mode.”

Patrik Laine and Joel Armia had goals 46 seconds apart to put the Jets up 3-0. Mark Scheifele gave Winnipeg a 4-1 lead midway on a power play through the second period with his 12th goal this postseason.

Brayden McNabb scored midway through the first and William Karlsson had a power-play goal late in the second period to pull Vegas within two, but the expansion team couldn’t get closer.

”We were chasing the game all night,” Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said.

Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck made 18 saves.

Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 22 shots for the Golden Knights, whose Stanley Cup-winning goalie has given up at least three goals for the fifth time in six games.

”He’s the best goalie in the playoffs as far as I’m concerned,” Gallant said.

Fleury and the Golden Knights will have to be at, or near, their best when the Jets host Game 2 on Monday night before the series shifts to Las Vegas.

”Next game, no excuses,” Golden Knights center Jonathan Marchessault said. ”Everybody needs to come and be ready to play our best game of the playoffs.

”We’re going to show what kind of team we are.”

Winnipeg, which is making its deepest playoff run in franchise history [url=http://www.bengalscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-carl-lawson-jersey]Carl Lawson Jersey[/url] , started strong and fast. Vegas, meanwhile, didn’t appear anything like the team that took the league by storm in its record-breaking inaugural season.

The Jets’ fast, deep and talented team had 114 points this season and trailed only the Predators’ league-high total by three points. Their success has carried over into the postseason, winning all three Game 1s and avoiding trailing a series.

The hard-charging, smooth-passing Jets put the Pacific Division champions on their heels right from the start and didn’t relent.

”We did take advantage of being game ready,” Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice said.

White-clad, towel-twirling raucous fans in the arena – and packed on surrounding streets – were fired up before the game started. And, they were given plenty of opportunities to celebrate in the opening minutes.

Byfuglien’s slap shot 1:05 into the game off a drop pass from Scheifele put Winnipeg up 1-0. That ignited the party-like atmosphere in a relatively cozy arena with just 16,345 seats and a low ceiling.

”That was huge for us,” Jets center Paul Stastny said. ”Early in the game, too. And then all of the sudden it gave life to everyone, everyone on the bench [url=http://www.lionscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-golden-tate-iii-jersey]Golden Tate III Jersey[/url] , the crowd.”

Fleury had no shot to stop Laine’s one-timer from the left circle off Wheeler’s cross-ice pass on a power play at the 6:49 mark of the first. Armia had a goal waved off less than a minute later only to have it restored by a challenge, which overturned the goaltender interference call on the ice.

”Sometimes getting your legs a little bit under you takes a few minutes here and they took advantage of it,” Fleury said.

After the flurry of goals early, the Jets were able to play conservatively to cut down on Vegas’ comeback chances.

”We were getting the puck deep,” Scheifele said. ”We weren’t fooling around with it in the neutral zone.”

The Golden Knights pulled Fleury to add an extra skater late in the game, but had to put him back on the ice because there was a faceoff near him. They sent him to the bench again and had some chances to pull within one, but the shot-blocking Jets didn’t let the puck get to Hellebuyck much.

NOTES: The last time two teams were in the NHL conference finals for the first time was 2003 when Anaheim swept Minnesota. … Scheifele has four more goals than any player still in the postseason. … Fleury, a former Pittsburgh Penguin, has four shutouts this postseason and has allowed four goals in three games.

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