Oakland, CA – Yoenis Cespedes finished 3-for-5 with a triple, home run and three RBI to lead the Oakland Athletics to a 9-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in the opener of a three-game set.
Cespedes finished a double shy of the cycle and snapped a 25-game homerless drought. Josh Reddick also drove in three runs, while Jed Lowrie, Seth Smith and Stephen Vogt each added an RBI for the Athletics, winners of four straight.
A.J. Griffin (10-7) surrendered four runs on four hits with two walks while fanning five over seven frames. It's his fourth win in his last six starts.
Esmil Rogers (3-5) was pounded for eight runs -- six earned -- on nine hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings. He is winless in his last seven outings, with his last win coming on June 18 against the Rockies.
Edwin Encarnacion, Adam Lind and Brett Lawrie all homered for the Blue Jays, who started their 10-game road trip by losing for the ninth time in 12 contests.
The A's jumped on Rogers in the first. Coco Crisp walked and Eric Sogard reached on first baseman Encarnacion's fielding error. Lowrie had an RBI single to right and Cespedes cleared the bases with a triple down the left- field line. Reddick's sacrifice fly to center capped the four-run first.
After a Brandon Moss single to start the third, Smith connected on a two-out, line-drive double to right to make it 5-0 Oakland.
Griffin had a perfect game bid going into the fifth, but it was broken up when Lind crushed a one-out homer to deep center.
The A's added three more runs in the home half of the fifth. With runners on first and second, Reddick hit a two-run double off the top of the center-field wall. Reddick then scored from third on Vogt's base hit to right to give Oakland a seven-run cushion.
Lawrie stroked a leadoff homer in the sixth inning. After a two-out walk to Jose Bautista, Encarnacion blasted his 29th home run of the season to make it an 8-4 game.
Cespedes crushed his 16th home run of the year and first since June 21 off Brett Cecil to begin the eighth.
Game Notes
The A's improved 15-8 in the month of July ... Encarnacion was named AL Player of the Week on Monday ... Griffin has allowed 10 home runs in his last five starts ... Oakland finished 6-for-16 with runners in scoring position.
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