Dylan Cease struck out 12 in five innings and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had three hits, including a two-run homer, as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Angels 5-2 on Monday night.
Lenyn Sosa put Toronto ahead with a sacrifice fly in the sixth, and Nathan Lukes knocked in two late insurance runs after coming off the bench.
Cease (1-0) earned his first win for the Blue Jays and finished one strikeout shy of his career high despite needing 110 pitches to get 15 outs. The right-hander, who signed a $210-million, seven-year contract as a free agent in December, limited the Angels to two runs and five hits. He walked two and whiffed Jorge Soler with a 99-mph fastball on his final pitch.
Toronto reliever Braydon Fisher threw a scoreless sixth, Louis Varland struck out three of his four batters and Tyler Rogers got the final two out in the eighth. Struggling closer Jeff Hoffman fanned three in a one-hit ninth for his third save.
Angels left-hander Reid Detmers (1-2) gave up four runs and five hits in six innings, striking out five and walking two. The Angels struck out a season-high 18 times and have lost three straight.
The Blue Jays snapped a 2-2 tie in the sixth after Guerrero and Eloy Jiménez singled. Guerrero went to third on Kazuma Okamoto’s grounder and scored on Sosa’s sacrifice fly.
Lukes drove in a run with a pinch-hit single in the seventh and added an RBI groundout that made it 5-2 in the ninth.
The Angels took a 1-0 lead in the first when Nolan Schanuel doubled and Soler, who had one hit and 13 strikeouts in 23 career at-bats against Cease, roped an RBI single to left field.
Toronto countered with two in the third when Davis Schneider walked and Guerrero crushed a hanging changeup 430 feet to center for his second homer this season.
The Angels tied it at 2 in the bottom half. Zach Neto walked, Mike Trout singled, and after a double steal, Schanuel hit a sacrifice fly.