Toronto, ON (SportsNetwork.com) - Josh Donaldson finished with three hits and three RBI and Jose Bautista hit one of Toronto's three home runs as the Blue Jays beat the Tampa Bay Rays 12-7 on Wednesday.
The Jays did most of their damage against Erasmo Ramirez (0-1), who was charged with nine runs -- seven earned -- on eight hits in 3 1/3 innings. Toronto plated at least two runs in each of the first five innings, with Bautista setting the tone with his two-run homer in the first.
"With Erasmo, similar to last outing, he was falling behind. If you fall behind to a lineup like this one, it's going to hurt," Rays manager Kevin Cash said.
Jose Reyes made it 3-0 when Evan Longoria could not handle his dribbler down the third base line with the bases loaded. Donaldson then stepped up and narrowly missed a grand slam, crushing a foul ball well over the fence in left, but still delivered with a two-run single back up the middle.
Kevin Pillar and Devon Travis each hit an RBI double in the third, extending the lead to 7-0.
Ramirez was lifted after allowing the first two batters he faced in the fourth to reach base. Rene Rivera's passed ball during Dioner Navarro's at-bat allowed the runners to advance, and Justin Smoak plated two more runs with a single to right-center.
Travis homered in the fifth, and Donaldson added to an already stellar line with an RBI double to center.
Dalton Pompey put the finishing touches on the rout with a solo homer in the seventh.
Mark Buehrle (2-0) was steady on the mound for the Blue Jays, who had lost the first two games in this four-game series by one run each. The veteran lefty allowed three runs on seven hits over six innings of work.
"(Buehrle) just works his way through there," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "He just keeps you off balance. He just plays to win. That's Buehrle. He's going to go out there to win."
Steven Souza hit a solo homer in the fifth and Mikie Mahtook had a two-run shot in the sixth to account for Tampa Bay's offense until the ninth, when the visitors made things interesting.
Rivera walked before Tim Beckham and Brandon Guyer singled to load the bases. Souza drove in two with a double off the wall, Asdrubal Cabrera pushed a run across with his groundout to shortstop and Bobby Wilson made it 12-7 with his two-out single to center.
Toronto's third pitcher in the inning, Brett Cecil, finally ended things by striking out Logan Forsythe on three pitches.
Game Notes
Mahtook's home run was the first of his career ... The Rays had won four straight games. They fell to 4-2 on their seven-game road trip ... Toronto went 6-for-15 with runners in scoring position, while the Rays finished 4- for-10.
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