Reddick homers three times as A's pound Jays
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Josh Reddick clubbed three homers and drove in five runs as the Oakland Athletics went on the offensive with a 17-hit attack in their 14-6 trouncing of the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.
Reddick, who had just two homers in his last 39 games entering the day, capped his evening with a three-run blast. Jed Lowrie and Yoenis Cespedes contributed back-to-back homers in the first inning to begin the onslaught.
"I finally got something to go my way. You hit it over there, they can't catch it," said Reddick.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Athletics won for just the second time in eight games, keeping at least a share of the lead in the AL West. Jarrod Parker (8-6) scattered three runs on six hits with six strikeouts over six innings to notch the win.
Esmil Rogers (3-7) struggled once again and was beaten badly for a third straight outing. He got through just three innings, allowing three of the homers and seven runs. He is 0-5 with a 7.13 ERA over his last nine starts.
"He's battling out there," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "He's a competitor. He's just going through a really tough time."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jose Bautista and Colby Rasmus homered, while Jose Reyes, Brett Lawrie and Emilio Bonifacio each drove in a run for the Jays in the setback.
Oakland's first four batters of the game reached, with Lowrie clubbing a three-run homer and Cespedes following right after with a shot over the left field wall.
The lead grew to 6-0 the following inning. Rogers balked runners to second and third, and Coco Crisp knocked in a run with a single. Eric Sogard then lifted a sacrifice fly to right.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Lawrie, Bonifacio and Reyes each knocked in a run for the Jays to cut their deficit in half going into the third, but Rogers quickly served up his third homer of the game, a solo shot to Reddick to make it 7-3.
Reddick went deep again two innings later off reliever Neil Wagner and back- to-back doubles from Seth Smith and Stephen Vogt pushed the Athletics' advantage to 9-3.
Juan Perez was next on the hill for Toronto and he couldn't find an answer for Reddick either. After Lowrie reached with a hit and Josh Donaldson walked in the sixth, Reddick crushed a 2-0 offering over the right field wall to make it 12-3.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The scored was 14-3 after Lowrie knocked in his fourth run and Cespedes had an RBI groundout in the seventh. The Jays got a solo homer from Bautista and a two-run shot from Rasmus in the eighth.
Game Notes
The Athletics have won six of their last eight games in Toronto ... Sogard went 2-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 14 games ... Oakland optioned pitcher Evan Scribner to Triple-A Sacramento prior to the game ... Bautista also doubled twice and ended 3-for-5.