TORONTO — As the Pittsburgh Pirates looked to avoid a sweep, it was crucial that they got off to a good start. Spencer Horwitz made sure they did.

Horwitz hit the very first pitch of the ballgame for a homer, Oneil Cruz added a solo shot off Dylan Cease in the second, and the Pirates beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-1 on Sunday afternoon at Rogers Centre.

Esmerlyn Valdez hit a two-run, opposite-field homer in the sixth, his first hit and first homer of his major league career.

Mitch Keller allowed one run in six innings for his seventh quality start of the season. He allowed four hits and three walks, striking out five.

Horwitz finished the game 1 for 4 with a walk. He’s batting .322 (19 for 58) with five doubles, a triple and two homers in his last 18 games. He would have had another hit if not for a leaping grab from second baseman Ernie Clement in the fifth inning, whom Horwitz went out to breakfast with on Friday. Horwitz, a former Blue Jay, went 2 for 9 with a walk and two RBIs in his return to Toronto.

Cruz’s homer off Cease in the second traveled an estimated 415 feet and gave the Pirates a 2-0 lead. It was just Cruz’s second homer of the month, as he’s been mired in a 7 for 39 (.179) slump with 20 strikeouts entering Sunday. He finished the game 1 for 4 with two strikeouts.

Keller didn’t allow a run until the fourth. He started the inning with a walk of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who advanced to second on a single and scored on Clement’s two-out single to left. Keller allowed three baserunners in the fourth, but otherwise stayed out of trouble.

Cease left the game in the fifth inning with mild left hamstring discomfort. Guerrero, who walked in his first two plate appearances against Keller, was hit in his third and walked back to the dugout and straight to the clubhouse. The Blue Jays termed his injury a right elbow contusion.

It was over when …

… the Pirates got into, then out of, a jam in the seventh. Yohan Ramirez came in in relief of Keller and started with a groundout, then allowed a Brandon Valenzuela double and walked George Springer. Mason Montgomery relieved him and induced two grounders to get the Pirates out of the inning unscathed.

Guerrero would have been up with two on and to outs in the eighth had he not left with the injury.

On the mound

The Pirates needed an uneventful start from Keller and got it. He only had two 1-2-3 innings, including one aided by Jake Mangum’s diving catch in the third, but he did well to play stopper and help the team avoid a sweep.

Montgomery retired all five batters he faced, striking out two in the eighth. Gregory Soto walked one and hit another in the ninth, but didn’t allow any hits for his fifth save of the year.

At the plate

Valdez’s homer, down the right field line, showed off his impressive power. It came against sidearmer Chase Lee on a sweeper Lee left down the middle, then simply kept carrying.

Despite the win, the Pirates went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position. They did not have a hit with runners in scoring position in the series.

Bucs bites

— On his weekly radio show, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said Jared Jones came through his rehab start on Saturday well. Jones allowed three runs on two hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings, throwing 76 pitches in a 5-4 Triple-A Indianapolis win.

— Jones will return to Pittsburgh for a bullpen on Tuesday, after which Cherington said the Pirates will decide where his next start will be. He is a candidate to be activated, Cherington said, although he maintained the possibility that Jones could pitch in relief at first.

— Cruz didn’t start any of the Pirates’ three games in Toronto in center, coming off the bench on Saturday and starting at designated hitter on Friday and Sunday. Cherington said that decision was made to minimize wear from Toronto’s turf on the 6-foot-7 Cruz. It also factored into the choice to bring up Valdez.

— Cherington was also encouraged by Ryan O’Hearn’s progress recovering from a right quad strain. O’Hearn is one week removed from the injury and hit on the field before Saturday’s game. Cherington had speculated last Sunday that it could be a four-week injury for O’Hearn.

Up next

The Pirates return home for a four-game series against the reeling Chicago Cubs that begins Monday at 1:35 p.m. ET. Carmen Mlodzinski (4-3, 3.96 ERA) will start the Memorial Day matinee for the Pirates, while the Cubs have not yet announced their starter.

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