Toronto, ON – Colby Rasmus smashed a two-run homer and supplied an RBI double, helping the Toronto Blue Jays finish off a three-game sweep of the reeling Philadelphia Phillies with a 6-2 win at Rogers Centre.
"Just an outstanding day (for Rasmus)," said Toronto manager John Farrell.
Kelly Johnson and Rajai Davis added run-scoring singles for the Blue Jays, who recorded a sweep of the Phillies for the second time in franchise history. They also swept a three-game set in Philadelphia in 2009.
Brett Cecil (1-0) made a successful return to the majors, tossing five solid innings in his 2012 debut with Toronto. He gave up solo home runs to Jim Thome and John Mayberry Jr. among five hits, walked one and struck out five to pick up his first win in the big leagues since July 29, 2011.
Cecil had gone 0-7 with a 5.16 ERA in his final 10 starts for the Blue Jays last year.
The southpaw toed the rubber Sunday in place of an injured Brandon Morrow (strained left oblique), one of three Blue Jays starters to land on the disabled list in the past week.
Cecil began the season in the minors after a subpar showing in spring training. He went 3-2 with a 3.38 ERA in nine starts for Double-A New Hampshire before earning a win on June 12 in his lone outing for Triple-A Las Vegas.
Kyle Kendrick (2-7) allowed six runs -- five earned -- on eight hits in 6 1/3 innings for Philadelphia, which finished its road trip with a 3-6 mark. The Phillies fell to 4-12 this month.
"I felt like I pitched a lot better than my numbers show," Kendrick said.
Toronto jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first. Brett Lawrie and Rasmus hit consecutive doubles off Kendrick to open the frame, producing a run. Johnson then plated Rasmus with a two-out chopper to center field.
The Phillies erased the deficit with leadoff home runs by Thome and Mayberry in the second and third innings, respectively. Thome's blast to right-center field was his 100th as a Phillie.
But the Blue Jays moved back in front in the fourth. After Johnson grounded into a double play, Kendrick gave up a single to Yunel Escobar and hit Yan Gomes with a pitch before yielding an RBI single to Davis, who drove home the winning run in the 10th inning on Saturday.
Toronto extended its lead to 5-2 in the fifth when Lawrie worked a leadoff walk and Rasmus followed with a home run to right field.
The Blue Jays scored a sixth run on a fielding error by Hunter Pence in the seventh.
Game Notes
The Phillies were swept on the road in an interleague matchup for the first time since June 23-26, 2006 at Boston...Thome became the fourth player in MLB history to hit 100 home runs with three different teams, joining Alex Rodriguez, Reggie Jackson and Darrell Evans. Thome hit 337 homers for the Cleveland Indians and 134 for the Chicago White Sox...Luis Perez limited Philadelphia to one hit in three innings of relief...Catcher Carlos Ruiz returned to the Phillies' lineup after injuring an oblique muscle on Friday...Rasmus and Mayberry both had three hits...The Phillies committed 10 errors on the road trip.
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