TORONTO — Max Scherzer pitched six innings and won his third straight start, Alejandro Kirk and Andrés Giménez homered and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Minnesota Twins 10-4 on Monday night.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. added a two-run single as the AL East-leading Blue Jays won for the 30th time in 39 home games.

Scherzer (5-2) allowed four runs and four hits, including two home runs. He struck out five and walked one. The three-time Cy Young Award winner is 10-2 in 19 career starts against the Twins.

Minnesota’s Matt Wallner homered twice off Scherzer, his 18th and 19th, but the Twins lost for the sixth time in seven games.

Twins starter Joe Ryan gave up four runs and four hits in a shaky first inning. Bo Bichette hit an RBI single and a second run scored on Daulton Varsho’s sacrifice fly before Kirk hit a two-run homer, his 11th.

Giménez extended the lead with a 422-foot drive on Ryan’s first pitch of the second. The homer was Giménez’s sixth.

Ryan (12-7) matched a season high by allowing six runs and seven hits in five innings. He lost consecutive starts for the first time this season.

Wallner hit a solo shot in the fourth and a two-run drive in the sixth. It was his first mult-ihomer game of the season and the second of his career.

Guerrero started at designated hitter, his first start since leaving an Aug. 18 game at Pittsburgh because of a sore left hamstring. Guerrero popped out as a pinch hitter in Sunday’s loss at Miami.

Key moment

Kirk’s two-out, first-pitch homer in the first capped a four-run inning.

Key stat

The Blue Jays are 57-3 when they score five or more runs.

Up next

Blue Jays RHP Chris Bassitt (11-7, 4.18 ERA) is scheduled to start Tuesday against Twins RHP Bailey Ober (4-7, 5.05).

Toronto Blue Jays’ Nathan Lukes runs in to score on a single by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. as Minnesota Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers, left, waits for a throw during sixth-inning baseball game action in Toronto, Monday, Aug. 25, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

As the Vikings prepared to finalize their roster, they flipped young cornerback Mekhi Blackmon to the Indianapolis Colts on Monday night in exchange for a sixth-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

Originally a third-round pick out of USC in 2023, Blackmon looked like a promising prospect as a rookie. He then suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament last year during training camp and hasn’t looked the same since.

Though he was able to return to the Vikings ahead of training camp this summer, Blackmon struggled to carve out a niche for himself. He was immediately beat out by cornerback Jeff Okudah in a position battle and slowly but surely found himself falling down the depth chart.

The fresh start might be good for Blackmon.

Meanwhile, the Vikings continue to accumulate a war chest of picks in the middle rounds, which could help them in their reported pursuit of veteran receiver Adam Thielen. It also wouldn’t be surprising to see the Vikings pursue a veteran cornerback at some point soon after parting ways with Blackmon.

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By CHRIS RUGABER and WILL WEISSERT, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump fired Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook late Monday, a surprise move constituting a sharp escalation in his battle to exert greater control over what has long been considered an institution independent from day-to-day politics.

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Trump said in a letter posted on his Truth Social platform that he is removing Cook because of allegations that she committed mortgage fraud. Bill Pulte, a Trump appointee to the agency that regulates mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, made the accusations last week.

Pulte alleged that Cook had claimed two primary residences — in Ann Arbor, Michigan and Atlanta — in 2021 to get better mortgage terms. Mortgage rates are often higher on second homes or those purchased to rent.

The announcement came days after Cook said she wouldn’t leave the seven-member Fed board despite Trump previously calling for her to resign. Senate Democrats had expressed support for Cook.

“The Federal Reserve has tremendous responsibility for setting interest rates and regulating reserve member banks. The American people must have the full confidence in the honesty of the members entrusted with setting policy and overseeing the Federal Reserve,” Trump wrote in a letter addressed to Cook, a copy of which he posted online. “In light of your deceitful and potentially criminal conduct in a financial matter, they cannot and I do not have such confidence in your integrity.”

Trump argued that firing Cook was constitutional, even if doing so will raise questions about control of the Fed as an independent entity.

“The executive power of the United States is vested to me as President and, as President, I have a solemn duty that the laws of the United States are faithfully enacted,” the president wrote in the letter to Cook. “I have determined that faithfully enacting the law requires your immediate removal from office.”

The firing is likely to touch off a legal battle and Cook could be allowed to remain in her seat while the case plays out. Cook would have to fight the legal battle herself, as the injured party, rather than the Fed.

FILE – Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook, right, talks with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell before an open meeting of the Board of Governors at the Federal Reserve, June 25, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

It is the latest effort by the administration to take control over one of the few remaining independent agencies in Washington. Trump has repeatedly attacked the Fed’s chair, Jerome Powell, for not cutting its short-term interest rate, and even threatened to fire him.

Forcing Cook off the Fed’s governing board would provide Trump an opportunity to appoint a loyalist. Trump has said he would only appoint officials who would support cutting rates.

Powell signaled last week that the Fed may cut rates soon even as inflation risks remain moderate. Meanwhile, Trump will be able to replace Powell in May 2026, when Powell’s term expires. However, 12 members of the Fed’s interest-rate setting committee have a vote on whether to raise or lower interest rates, so even replacing the chair might not guarantee that Fed policy will shift the way Trump wants.

It’s back-to-school season, but not everyone has the time and budget for new backpacks or a stop at the barber shop. One solution: Host an event that brings the two together, make it free and make it fun.

The National Black Police Association of Minnesota, Black Firefighters United and others partnered with The Sanneh Foundation, Greater Twin Cities United Way to host the 10th annual Backpacks and Barbers event Monday at the the Conway Recreation Center in St. Paul, providing children with free haircuts, backpacks, school supplies, food and more.

Cousins Lanu and Tami show off the new backpacks they received Monday. (Talia McWright / Pioneer Press)

“It helps them to be able to take some of that burden off of their families,” Sanneh Foundation marketing coordinator Sophia Hayden said. “And everybody needs a fresh haircut. You look good, you feel good. So we want to get those kids ready to have their first day of school.”

Another hope for the event is that while officers engage with community and show them they care, some of the kids, especially those from underrepresented communities, will be inspired to see law enforcement as a career path in the future.

“Representation is very important for the Black Police Association, so kids in the community can look up and say, ‘Hey, these people can do it. You know what, I can do it too,’ because we’re actually really underrepresented in Minnesota,” Association President and St. Paul Officer Brad Chin said.

According to the association, 273 out of the total 10,505 police officers in Minnesota are Black. Chin said the association wants to change this to better serve their communities.

First time attendee and mother of six Dominiques Perkins brought her two boys, fifth-grader Damari and third-grader Dontrez, out on Tuesday. The event was an opportunity to save some money and be surrounded by community members, she said, looking at the rows of young kids getting their hair cut by professional local barbers.

Another first timer, Akona Joaj, a special education educator, brought two young family members who are refugees from South Sudan and had never before had their hair cut, she said. The two boys came to Minnesota early this year and were all smiles as they sat across from each other.

“It brings the community together and is so helpful for kids,” Joaj said. “Even if you can’t afford it, you still deserve to feel good and look good for school.”

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