Blue Jays can't cash in chances against Royals

The Kansas City Royals and Toronto Blue Jays both had plenty of opportunities to score runs Friday night.

The Royals took advantage of their chances while the Blue Jays came up empty.

Alex Gordon and Lorenzo Cain homered as Kansas City defeated Toronto 6-1 on a glorious spring evening at Rogers Centre. Jose Bautista went deep for the Blue Jays, who left 14 men on base and were outhit 9-8.

Jason Vargas outduelled J.A. Happ in Kansas City's second straight victory over the Blue Jays, who had their nine-game winning streak end a night earlier. Toronto (32-24) was a woeful 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

"When you get on one of those hot streaks that we were on, we were cashing those in," said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. "But Vargas was really, really good."

The Kansas City starter allowed seven hits and one earned run over six innings. Gordon homered in the fourth and Cain added another two-run shot in the eighth to knock Happ out of the game.

Despite the loss, Toronto maintained its 2 1/2-game lead on second-place New York in the American League East division standings after the Yankees dropped a 6-1 decision to Minnesota.

The Blue Jays entered this four-game series on an offensive tear, piling up the runs over three straight series sweeps. The trick will be keeping that win streak hangover to a minimum.

"When you win nine games in a row, you expect to come out the next day and win," said Toronto catcher Erik Kratz. "That mentality hasn't changed the last two nights. We were a couple inches away last night from winning and tonight we were a couple hits away from being back in this game."

After the game, the Blue Jays announced that top prospect Marcus Stroman had been recalled from triple-A Buffalo and would start Saturday afternoon.

"We want to see him as a starter," Gibbons said. "He's been really good down there this year and this is his opportunity."

Toronto looked ready to do some damage in the first inning after Jose Reyes led off with a triple and Bautista reached on a walk. But like he did all night, Vargas snuffed out the threat.

"I feel something like that hopefully sets the tone for the game and fires us up," he said. "We were able to get a run the next inning and keep it moving from there."

Kansas City (26-28) padded its lead when Gordon smacked his fourth home run of the season. That was more than enough offence for Vargas (5-2), who allowed seven hits, one earned run and three walks while striking out seven.

Bautista gave the crowd of 21,543 a charge in the fifth with his 14th home run of the season. Edwin Encarnacion followed with a two-out walk but Brett Lawrie of Langley, B.C., struck out.

Happ (4-2) was tagged for six earned runs and nine hits over 7 2/3 innings. He walked two batters and had six strikeouts.

Toronto brought the potential tying run to the plate in the seventh against reliever Aaron Crow. Bautista walked and Lawrie hit a two-out single but Dioner Navarro flew out.

In the eighth, Cain tacked on some insurance runs with his second home run of the season.

"This is more of the offence that we envisioned coming out of spring training," said Royals manager Ned Yost. "We're not going to be a club that's going to lead the league in home runs but we've got home run power that we haven't used."

Recent triple-A callup Bobby Korecky relieved Happ in the eighth and retired the lone batter he faced.

With the bullpen in need of a rest, he stayed on for the ninth and retired the Royals in order. Korecky was sent back down after the game.

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Marcus Stroman to make 1st career start for Blue Jays

The starting pitchers for the Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals will both be making their first major league start as the third game of the series takes place at Rogers Centre on Saturday afternoon.

Toronto (32-24) will try to get back on track after two losses to Kansas City with top prospect Marcus Stroman (1-0, 12.79) making his first major league start. The 23-year-old was hit hard in his last two relief appearances earlier this month before being sent down, giving up nine runs and 11 hits in three innings.

The move was made to give originally scheduled starter Drew Hutchinson a couple of extra days' rest in his first year following Tommy John surgery.

"We've been trying to pick some spots, give Hutch a little breather," manager John Gibbons told the Jays' official website. "After his last start, I thought he looked a little bit tired."

Stroman lost both his starts with Buffalo after being demoted, giving up seven runs and 10 hits in nine innings.

Making his first major league start, Aaron Brooks will fill the spot of the injured Yordano Ventura and try to keep the Royals winning at Rogers Centre.

Brooks (0-0, 27.00 ERA) will be called up from Triple-A Omaha prior to the start, occupying the slot of Ventura, who had been wowing observers by hitting triple digits on the radar gun and posting a 3.45 ERA with 59 strikeouts in 57 1-3 innings, despite a 2-5 record. He's being skipped as a precautionary measure after leaving his last start with elbow pain, though an MRI taken afterward showed nothing out of the ordinary.

The 24-year-old Brooks made his major league debut in relief against Detroit on May 3, giving up six runs - all in his second inning of work - in a 9-2 defeat. After being sent back to the Storm Chasers, the right-hander went 4-0 in as many starts with a 2.05 ERA. He struck out only 16 in 26 1-3 innings.

"He's been throwing good. He's a kid that's not afraid. Throws strikes, commands the ball. A simple decision," manager Ned Yost told the Royals' official website. "That's who they recommended, we had a lot of people there watching."

Yost can only hope Brooks was watching Jason Vargas, who allowed a solo home run to Jose Bautista and six other hits in six innings of Friday's 6-1 victory. Lorenzo Cain and Alex Gordon homered for the Royals (26-28).

The home runs represented a rare power surge for Kansas City, which has a major league-low 24. By comparison, Blue Jays first baseman Edwin Encarnacion - whom the Royals walked three times Friday - has 16 this month and 18 overall.

''This is more of the offence that we envisioned coming out of spring training,'' Yost said. ''We're not going to be a club that's going to lead the league in home runs but we've got home-run power that we haven't used.''

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Toronto shortstop Jose Reyes hitting his stride

If the eye-catching smile doesn't get you, the electric play on the basepaths will.

Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes gets people's attention with his unique brand of baseball. He's a dynamo with great range in the field and track star speed.

And over the last week or two, he finally looks like the Reyes of old.

The three-time all-star, one of the key pieces in a November 2012 blockbuster trade with Miami, was hampered by injury problems in his first season in Toronto. It was more of the same earlier this year as a tight hamstring kept him out of the lineup for a few weeks.

Once he returned, it took some time for Reyes to find his rhythm. The leadoff hitter has found it now and his play is a big reason why the Blue Jays have moved to the top of the American League East division standings.

"He makes us that much better," said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. "He's really the catalyst because he's up at the top of the lineup."

A revitalized starting rotation and homer-happy lineup are two big reasons why the Blue Jays are flying high. But Reyes has provided the powerful Toronto offence with a real edge since his return.

With impressive bat skills and a constant threat to run, Reyes offers a nice contrast to the big swingers like Melky Cabrera, Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista who usually follow him in the order. Pitchers have a hard time concentrating on the plate with a speedster like Reyes on base.

"He's so capable of stirring things up," said Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon. "He's one of those catalysts. There's a few real catalytic players in the game and he's one of them."

Reyes, who had three hits in Wednesday's 3-2 win over the Rays, took an 11-game hitting streak into Thursday's game against Kansas City. He had his first three-steal game as a Blue Jay last weekend and wowed the Rogers Centre crowd by scoring from second base on a groundout.

"He's one of those guys that's hard to take your eye off of when you're watching a baseball game," said Toronto second baseman Steve Tolleson. "He's able to do so many things offensively and defensively. Defensively he's able to play a little bit deeper than most shortstops because he has a tremendous arm and he has the speed to close in on balls that he needs to.

"He's in an elite group when it comes to that. He's been a lot of fun to watch."

In a game earlier this week, Reyes dropped a soft bunt down in his first at-bat. He accelerated like a shot and seemed to be halfway down the first-base line by the time the pitcher left the mound to retrieve the ball before conceding the single.

When the next batter belted one off the wall, Reyes was quickly in full flight and scored with a head-first slide. It's the kind of get-your-jersey-dirty, fast-paced style that fans and teammates love.

"The last few weeks my leg feels good," Reyes said. "It's good to play pain-free. I don't have to worry about anything. Before, four or five weeks ago, I still had a little concern with my hamstring being 100 per cent.

"But right now it's 110 per cent."

Reyes, 30, who won a batting title with the New York Mets in 2011, has seen his average rise as his comfort level returned. Entering the game against the Royals, he has reached base safely in 24 of his last 25 games.

The three-time National League stolen base leader (2005-'07) has also swiped 11 bags over the last 25 games entering Thursday's matchup. His well-rounded game is a big reason why Toronto's offence is so feared.

"When they made the trade and brought him in last year, I think that's what everybody kind of envisioned," Gibbons said. "He's been banged up a little bit since he's been here but now he's healthy.

"What he's doing now is really what he's done his whole career and so I think people are just really getting a look at it."

Reyes also brings an infectious personality to the ballpark and is usually the first one out of the dugout to congratulate his teammates.

More than anything, he has the ability to put the Blue Jays in a position to manufacture runs. Whether through stolen bases, sacrifices or just aggressive base-running, Reyes can often secure that extra base and create more scoring opportunities.

"I'm capable of doing a lot of stuff," Reyes said. "People (have) seen (over) the last few weeks what I'm able to do on the field."

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Blue Jays' win streak ends after Reyes error

Like he's done all month, Edwin Encarnacion did his part to put the Toronto offence in position for a victory.

It was the defence that came up short Thursday night and it proved costly in an 8-6 home loss to the Kansas City Royals.

With two outs in the ninth inning, Toronto shortstop Jose Reyes had a chance to seal the win on a routine ground ball. However, his throw was low and pinch-runner Jarrod Dyson came around from second base to tie the game.

The Royals scored two more runs in the 10th inning to end Toronto's season-high nine-game winning streak.

"There's no excuse," Reyes said. "I should make a better throw there. That's a routine ground ball, I got it perfect. I just didn't have enough on the throw."

Omar Infante drove in a pair of runs off Toronto reliever Todd Redmond (0-4) in the 10th inning as Kansas City (25-28) ended its four-game losing skid. Greg Holland got the last three outs for his 15th save.

"Well you don't expect to lose one like that," said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. "But you know what, we've been playing some good baseball. The key is just to come back out and play a good clean game tomorrow."

Encarnacion continued his phenomenal play this month by launching two no-doubt homers to give him 18 on the season and a team record 16 for the month.

"To watch what he's been doing this month, I don't know where it goes down in history but it's pretty historic in my mind anyway," Gibbons said.

Jose Bautista also homered for the Blue Jays, who had their seven-game home winning streak come to an end.

Encarnacion is now one away from tying Barry Bonds' major-league record for most homers in the month of May. Bonds hit 17 with San Francisco in May 2001.

The Toronto slugger also has five multi-homer games this month, which ties the major-league record for any month currently shared by Albert Belle (September 1995) and Harmon Killebrew (May 1959).

Blue Jays starter R.A. Dickey pitched to two batters in the sixth inning before being pulled. He said the team will focus on its positive play over the last few weeks.

"Jose makes that play 99 out of 100 times, it was just a real fluke thing," Dickey said. "But we can't second-guess things the way that we've been playing and the way we've been pitching and hitting. I mean, Edwin — what can you say?

"I mean it's been fun to watch and to be on a team where so many things are going well and I think it'll continue tomorrow. I think this was just kind of a mild hiccup."

The American League East-leading Blue Jays fell to 32-23 with the loss.

Kansas City starter James Shields worked seven innings and reliever Wade Davis (4-1) pitched two innings for the win. The Royals left 11 batters on base but outhit Toronto 14-9.

"I was really pleased with the way we swung the bats tonight," said manager Ned Yost. "We were driving balls. We just had some great at-bats."

Salvador Perez hit his fifth homer of the season for the Royals in the second inning and Kansas City added three runs in the fifth.

The Royals also loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh inning but Aaron Loup got out of the jam by striking out Alcides Escobar on three pitches.

Closer Casey Janssen, who was looking to pick up his ninth save, recorded the first two outs in the ninth before Alex Gordon's single. He was replaced by Dyson, who stole second.

"We were facing a hot team that had swept their last three teams," Dyson said. "I thought we did a great job to come over here and kind of break that up a little bit and get going."

In the 10th, Redmond gave up a single to Escobar to open the inning and Pedro Ciriaco reached when he was beaned while squaring up to bunt. Nori Aoki advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt.

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Anthony Gose, Blue Jays burn Rays for 9th straight win

The Toronto Blue Jays have used their big bats to power their way to victories over their nine-game winning streak.

On Wednesday night, they showed that stellar defence and a little small ball can get the job done too.

With pinch-runner Kevin Pillar aboard after Dioner Navarro opened the bottom of the ninth with a single, Anthony Gose dropped down an excellent bunt along the first-base line. Reliever Juan Carlos Oviedo threw wide to first and Pillar came all the way around to score to give the Blue Jays a 3-2 victory over Tampa Bay and their first walk-off win of the season.

"It's not every day you're going to come out and score 10 runs," said Toronto infielder Steve Tolleson. "Sometimes, you have to fight tooth and nail to win.

"The guys today really showed that and that's why we pulled through."

Toronto opened the series with a 10-5 win and followed with a 9-6 victory a night later. On Wednesday, in what was likely the Blue Jays' finest defensive effort of the year, Toronto stifled Tampa Bay all over the diamond.

After both teams scored a pair of early runs, Gose made an all-world catch against the centre-field wall in the third inning to keep the game tied.

In the sixth, Melky Cabrera offered a highlight-reel moment of his own with a great leaping grab against the wall in left field. Brett Lawrie of Langley, B.C., and Edwin Encarnacion got into the act too later in the frame.

James Loney hit a hard chopper that the Canadian sprawled to retrieve in shallow right field. Encarnacion dived to snag the throw to first and managed to keep his foot on the bag for the out.

In the eighth, it was Toronto third baseman Juan Francisco's turn.

He made a great diving snag off the bat of leadoff hitter David DeJesus and an inning later, Lawrie was at it again by barehanding a slow chopper on the fly and whipping it to first base in time.

"It was just one of those days that we just refused to lose," Tolleson said.

'Good things happened'

On the winning play, Pillar broke for third when he saw the ball roll down the left-field line and third-base coach Luis Rivera made a gutsy decision to send him home with nobody out.

"I wanted to score," Pillar said. "When I saw the ball go by, I mean Luis is aggressive over there.

"I mean, worst-case scenario, Gose is probably standing at third base with one out. He made a good call there."

The speedy Gose has been showing consistency with his bunting ability this season and it paid off.

"I got it down tonight," he said. "I just tried to move the runner and good things happened."

Toronto starter Liam Hendriks and Tampa Bay starter Chris Archer both gave up two earned runs over six innings. Blue Jays left-hander Rob Rasmussen came on for the seventh and Matt Joyce greeted him with a ground-rule double.

Toronto manager John Gibbons quickly went to the bullpen for Dustin McGowan, who gave up just one walk over two scoreless innings. Aaron Loup (2-1) worked the ninth as Toronto (32-22) completed the three-game sweep.

Encarnacion, who has tied a club record with 14 homers this month, drove in a pair of runs with a first-inning single. Jose Reyes opened the game with a single and moved to third on a single by Jose Bautista before Encarnacion cashed them in.

The Rays tied it in the second inning. Joyce doubled and scored when Wil Myers followed with a two-run shot, his fifth homer of the season.

'A huge win'

Tampa Bay (23-31) entered the series on a four-game winning streak. The three straight losses have sent the Rays into the division basement.

"It's been pretty much how the season has gone to this point, but we're going to change it," said Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon. "All these weird awkward breaks, we're just not catching them."

Toronto, meanwhile, has won 15 of its last 17 games and 19 of 24 overall. It's the Blue Jays' longest winning streak since an 11-gamer last June.

"I think that's a pretty exciting win I think all around for the team," Gose said. "Three straight sweeps and a sweep of another AL East opponent in the Rays, who we've had trouble with over the last couple years.

"It was a huge win."

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Toronto shortstop Jose Reyes hitting his stride

If the eye-catching smile doesn't get you, the electric play on the basepaths will.

Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes gets people's attention with his unique brand of baseball. He's a dynamo with great range in the field and track star speed.

And over the last week or two, he finally looks like the Reyes of old.

The three-time all-star, one of the key pieces in a November 2012 blockbuster trade with Miami, was hampered by injury problems in his first season in Toronto. It was more of the same earlier this year as a tight hamstring kept him out of the lineup for a few weeks.

Once he returned, it took some time for Reyes to find his rhythm. The leadoff hitter has found it now and his play is a big reason why the Blue Jays have moved to the top of the American League East division standings.

"He makes us that much better," said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. "He's really the catalyst because he's up at the top of the lineup."

A revitalized starting rotation and homer-happy lineup are two big reasons why the Blue Jays are flying high. But Reyes has provided the powerful Toronto offence with a real edge since his return.

With impressive bat skills and a constant threat to run, Reyes offers a nice contrast to the big swingers like Melky Cabrera, Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista who usually follow him in the order. Pitchers have a hard time concentrating on the plate with a speedster like Reyes on base.

"He's so capable of stirring things up," said Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon. "He's one of those catalysts. There's a few real catalytic players in the game and he's one of them."

Reyes, who had three hits in Wednesday's 3-2 win over the Rays, took an 11-game hitting streak into Thursday's game against Kansas City. He had his first three-steal game as a Blue Jay last weekend and wowed the Rogers Centre crowd by scoring from second base on a groundout.

"He's one of those guys that's hard to take your eye off of when you're watching a baseball game," said Toronto second baseman Steve Tolleson. "He's able to do so many things offensively and defensively. Defensively he's able to play a little bit deeper than most shortstops because he has a tremendous arm and he has the speed to close in on balls that he needs to.

"He's in an elite group when it comes to that. He's been a lot of fun to watch."

In a game earlier this week, Reyes dropped a soft bunt down in his first at-bat. He accelerated like a shot and seemed to be halfway down the first-base line by the time the pitcher left the mound to retrieve the ball before conceding the single.

When the next batter belted one off the wall, Reyes was quickly in full flight and scored with a head-first slide. It's the kind of get-your-jersey-dirty, fast-paced style that fans and teammates love.

"The last few weeks my leg feels good," Reyes said. "It's good to play pain-free. I don't have to worry about anything. Before, four or five weeks ago, I still had a little concern with my hamstring being 100 per cent.

"But right now it's 110 per cent."

Reyes, 30, who won a batting title with the New York Mets in 2011, has seen his average rise as his comfort level returned. Entering the game against the Royals, he has reached base safely in 24 of his last 25 games.

The three-time National League stolen base leader (2005-'07) has also swiped 11 bags over the last 25 games entering Thursday's matchup. His well-rounded game is a big reason why Toronto's offence is so feared.

"When they made the trade and brought him in last year, I think that's what everybody kind of envisioned," Gibbons said. "He's been banged up a little bit since he's been here but now he's healthy.

"What he's doing now is really what he's done his whole career and so I think people are just really getting a look at it."

Reyes also brings an infectious personality to the ballpark and is usually the first one out of the dugout to congratulate his teammates.

More than anything, he has the ability to put the Blue Jays in a position to manufacture runs. Whether through stolen bases, sacrifices or just aggressive base-running, Reyes can often secure that extra base and create more scoring opportunities.

"I'm capable of doing a lot of stuff," Reyes said. "People (have) seen (over) the last few weeks what I'm able to do on the field."

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Blue Jays outslug Rays for 8th straight win

Another blast by Edwin Encarnacion helped make Mark Buehrle the first nine-game winner in baseball.

Buehrle won his season-best fifth straight decision, Encarnacion and Adam Lind hit back-to-back home runs and the Toronto Blue Jays extended their winning streak to eight games, beating the Tampa Bay Rays 9-6 on Tuesday night.

"Everybody's having fun," Encarnacion said. "You can see it on their faces. We're playing great baseball."

Juan Francisco also homered for the AL East-leading Blue Jays, who have won 13 of 15 and are 19-7 in May.

Buehrle said he's grateful to have Encarnacion's booming bat supporting him.

"He's everything you could ask for," Buehrle said. "Offensively and defensively, he's awesome."

Encarnacion connected for the 14th time in May, matching Jose Bautista's team record for home runs in a month. Bautista hit 14 homers in June 2012.

"Eddie's on some kind of roll right now," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said.

Encarnacion has homered in three straight games for the third time this season.

The Blue Jays lead the majors with 76 home runs. They have gone deep in 10 straight games and 29 of their past 34, hitting 58 homers in that span.

Buehrle (9-1) allowed four runs, three earned, and eight hits in 6 2-3 innings. The left-hander walked one and struck out three.

Casey Janssen finished for his eighth save in as many chances.

Sean Rodriguez had three RBIs for the Rays, who lost their second straight following a season-best four-game winning streak. Rays manager Joe Maddon said he's just hoping to get out of Toronto without being swept.

"Taking one out of three right now sounds very enticing," Maddon said.

Lind and Encarnacion both connected off Rays right-hander Alex Cobb, who lost for the first time since April 1 and saw his streak of 24 2-3 scoreless innings snapped.

Cobb (1-2) allowed season-worsts of six runs and nine hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out seven.

The Rays gave Cobb the lead in the fourth on an RBI double by Rodriguez and an RBI grounder by Will Myers, but the right-hander couldn't hold it. Brett Lawrie and Dioner Navarro hit two-out RBI singles in the bottom half to tie the game and snap Cobb's scoreless streak. Cobb had not allowed an earned run since his first start, April 1 against Toronto.

Jose Reyes began the fifth with a line drive that struck Cobb on the right thigh, knocking him to the ground. Cobb appeared shaken up, but stayed in the game after a few warmup pitches.

"The first couple of warmup pitches the leg was still a little bit dead," Cobb said. "Honestly, by the third or fourth pitch, going back into game mode, it wasn't a factor. It was something I felt was out of my mind."

Last June, Cobb was hit in the head by a line drive off the bat of Kansas City's Eric Hosmer and wound up in hospital. He didn't return until mid-August.

Cobb said that incident "didn't even cross my mind while I was out there."

Things unraveled quickly for Cobb after the scare. Reyes went to second on a grounder and scored on Bautista's single. Lind hit an opposite field home run and, two pitches later, Encarnacion drilled a towering homer into the third deck, his 16th, tying him with Baltimore's Nelson Cruz for most in the majors.

"He was carving us up pretty good early until he got hit," Gibbons said of Cobb.

Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth but Toronto added two more in the bottom half on an RBI single by Melky Cabrera and a bases-loaded balk by reliever Brad Boxberger.

The Rays chased Buehrle in the seventh when James Loney doubled and scored on Matt Joyce's RBI grounder.

Francisco replied in the bottom half with a leadoff homer off Josh Lueke.

Rodriguez tripled home a run off Steve Delabar in the eighth and scored on Myers' sacrifice fly.

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Blue Jays look for 3rd straight sweep

As the Toronto Blue Jays continue to surge, the Tampa Bay Rays hope they're not in the midst of another significant rough stretch.

The Blue Jays can extend their season-high winning streak to nine Wednesday night with a three-game home sweep of the Rays.

Mark Buehrle endured a subpar outing but became the majors' first nine-game winner, and Edwin Encarnacion hit one of Toronto's three home runs in Tuesday's 9-6 victory.

Atop the AL East this late for the first time since July 6, 2000, the Blue Jays (31-22) have averaged 6.3 runs, hit 17 home runs and batted .321 during their longest winning streak since matching the club-record 11 last June. A winner in 13 of 15, Toronto has homered in 10 straight contests for the first time since a 12-game stretch Aug. 6-18, 2011.

''Everybody's having fun,'' Encarnacion said. ''You can see it on their faces. We're playing great baseball.''

Encarnacion has homered in three straight games for the third time this season, and hit half of his 16 home runs while batting .361 (13 for 36) with 12 RBIs in his last nine contests. His 14 homers in May match Jose Bautista's team record set in June 2012.

''Eddie's on some kind of roll right now,'' manager John Gibbons said.

However, Encarnacion is 1 for 9 with a homer against Tampa Bay's Chris Archer (3-2, 4.11 ERA), who has not yielded a run over 11 2-3 innings while going 1-0 in two starts since he went 0-1 with a 6.97 ERA in his previous four outings.

The right-hander gave up four hits and struck out 11 in six innings while not factoring in the decision of a 1-0 victory over Boston on Friday.

Archer, 2-0 with a 2.01 ERA in four starts against the Blue Jays, opened the season allowing two runs in six innings of a 7-2 win over them April 3.

Starters Erik Bedard and Alex Cobb gave up 14 of the 19 runs in this series allowed by the Rays (23-30), who hope to avoid losing three in a row after a season-high four-game winning streak. Also looking to avoid a season-high fifth straight road defeat, Tampa Bay has already suffered skids of at least three games on five occasions this season.

''Taking one out of three right now sounds very enticing,'' manager Joe Maddon said.

Evan Longoria, however, is batting .367 in his last 29 games against the Blue Jays, and 1 for 2 with a homer versus Liam Hendriks (1-0, 1.59).

The Australian right-hander allowed a home run and two other hits in 5 2-3 innings of a 3-2 victory over Oakland in his season debut Friday. Hendriks was just happy to be back in the majors after going 2-13 with a 6.06 ERA in 30 games and 28 starts over the past three seasons with Minnesota.

''I've got a different mindset coming into the season, getting aggressive and getting after guys early and it's paying dividends already," said Hendriks, who was 4-0 with a 1.61 ERA in seven starts at Triple-A Buffalo.

Hendricks' only appearance against the Rays came in 2012 when he gave up four runs in 5 2-3 innings while not factoring in the decision of a 5-4 win.

Hitting cleanup against right-handers, teammate Adam Lind homered Tuesday and is batting .410 in his last 11 games. He's 3 for 10 with a double versus Archer.

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Blue Jays pound Rays for 7th straight win

The Toronto Blue Jays power numbers have been impressive during their seven-game winning streak that has taken them to the top of the American League East standings.

They're also doing the little things right and it paid off in a 10-5 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night.

Bunt singles, hustle plays, slick defence, outfield assists — the Blue Jays are doing it all while keeping the long ball in their arsenal. Edwin Encarnacion, Steve Tolleson and Dioner Navarro hit solo home runs and Toronto (30-22) pounded out 16 hits in the opener of a three-game series on a muggy night at Rogers Centre.

"They just put the heavy gloves on and beat us up tonight," said Rays manager Joe Maddon.

The Blue Jays jumped out to a 2-0 lead after opening with five straight hits on Canadian starter Erik Bedard (2-3). Tampa Bay (23-29) did some damage against Toronto starter Drew Hutchison (4-3), but could never move into the lead.

Every time the Rays scored, the Blue Jays were quick to answer.

When Tampa Bay tied the game in the third inning, Navarro and Tolleson responded with back-to-back homers in the fourth.

When the Rays pulled even again in the fifth, Toronto put four more runs on the board in the bottom half before Encarnacion added an insurance run with a solo shot in the sixth inning.

With the win, Toronto remained two games ahead of second-place New York in the AL East. The Yankees defeated St. Louis, 6-4 in 12 innings.

The Blue Jays have won seven of their last eight home games and 12 of their last 14 games overall.

"When things are going good, they're going good," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said.

It was Encarnacion's 13th homer this month, breaking Jose Bautista's club record for home runs in the month of May that was set in 2010. Melky Cabrera chipped in with three hits, while Brett Lawrie of Langley, B.C., Navarro and Kevin Pillar added two hits apiece.

"It was just not enough," Maddon said. "They kept adding on.

"They have such a good lineup and, when the bottom [of the order] contributes like they did today, it makes it even more difficult."

The Blue Jays showed their mix of skill and power in the first inning. A bunt single, double and three straight singles got the crowd of just 15,616 into the game early.

David DeJesus hit a solo shot for Tampa Bay in the third and James Loney later drove in Evan Longoria with a sacrifice fly. The Rays loaded the bases but Tolleson showed his range at second base by cutting off a sharp grounder by Cole Figueroa and making an off-balance throw to first for the third out.

Toronto responded in the fourth inning by hitting back-to-back homers for the third time this season. The Blue Jays also used a little small ball to push another run across.

Pillar reached on an infield single and moved to second when Anthony Gose dropped down a nice sacrifice bunt. Reyes moved Pillar to third on a grounder to the right side of the infield and Cabrera drove him in with a single.

In the fifth, Tampa Bay's Matt Joyce hit a one-out double and cleanup hitter Desmond Jennings followed with his fifth homer of the season. Loney tied the game with a solo shot — the first time the Rays have hit back-to-back homers this year.

Toronto responded with four runs in the bottom half of the frame. Encarnacion and Lawrie hit back-to-back doubles and Navarro added a run-scoring single to make it 7-5, knocking Bedard out of the game.

Alex Colome came on in relief and didn't fare much better.

He walked pinch-hitter Juan Francisco and got Pillar to fly out before being burned by the speedy Gose, who out-hustled Colome to the bag on a slow chopper to the right side. Reyes drew a bases-loaded walk and Cabrera drove in Francisco with a sacrifice fly.

Encarnacion led off the Toronto half of the sixth by turning on a 2-2 pitch from Colome. Entering the game, the Toronto slugger led the major leagues in homers in May, was tied for first with 17 extra-base hits and was second with 25 runs batted in.

Cabrera and Gose each chipped in with an outfield assist. Pillar also showed off his defensive skill in right field by making a nice sliding catch at the warning track to prevent Longoria from driving in a couple of runs.

Hutchison allowed seven hits, five earned runs and four walks. Bedard, from Navan, Ont., gave up 12 hits, seven earned runs and struck out a pair.

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Son of Red Sox broadcaster Remy pleads guilty to murder

Prosecutors say Jared Remy fatally stabbed girlfriend at couple's apartment

The Associated Press Posted: May 27, 2014 11:07 AM ET Last Updated: May 27, 2014 11:10 AM ET

The son of a Boston Red Sox broadcaster has pleaded guilty to murder in the stabbing of his girlfriend last year.

Jared Remy entered the plea Tuesday in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn, Mass. Prosecutors say he fatally stabbed Jennifer Martel at the couple's apartment in August.

The judge didn't immediately accept Remy's guilty plea to first-degree murder, assault and battery, and violating a restraining order, among other charges.

Jared Remy, 35, was arrested Aug. 13 after he allegedly pushed the 27-year-old Martel into a mirror. He was released on his own recognizance Aug. 14 and stabbed Martel the next day. He also pleaded guilty to assaulting a man who tried to help Martel as he was stabbing her.

Remy is the son of Jerry Remy, a popular Red Sox announcer.

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Josh Beckett throws no-hitter for Dodgers against Phillies

Josh Beckett started talking about throwing a no-hitter in the fourth inning, ignoring traditional superstitions and making his catcher nervous in the process.

The big, folksy Texan had stuff that was too dominant to worry about a jinx.

Beckett pitched the first no-hitter of his stellar career and the first in the majors this season, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Philadelphia Phillies 6-0 on Sunday.

A year ago, Beckett was nearly derailed by a nerve condition that left him unable to feel his fingertips. On this day, he was downright nasty.

"I was joking about it because I was waiting for them to get a hit," Beckett said. "You don't think at this point of your career that you're going to do that. I just don't feel that my stuff is good enough to do that. I'm probably as hard on myself as anybody."

Beckett stuck out six, walked three and didn't come close to allowing a hit against a lineup that included two former NL MVPs and four former All-Stars. Beckett has credentials, too: A three-time All-Star, he also was a World Series MVP.

The 34-year-old right-hander threw 128 pitches. He fanned five-time All-Star Chase Utley on a called strike three to end the game.

"It's very special. It takes really good defence behind you, a little luck sprinkled in and making pitches when you need to make pitches," Beckett said. "That's a good-hitting team you don't take lightly."

Beckett mixed a sharp fastball with a slow, deceptive curve that kept hitters off-balance while retiring 23 straight batters at one stretch. He pitched the Dodgers' first no-hitter since Hideo Nomo beat Colorado at Coors Field in 1996, and the 21st in franchise history. Sandy Koufax threw four.

"I knew he had something special going early," catcher Drew Butera said. "I was a nervous wreck from the fourth inning on when he said he had never taken one this far. He's a guy who is going to keep it loose and he didn't want anybody to be thinking about it."

Beckett pitched the first no-hitter in the majors since Miami's Henderson Alvarez did it against Detroit on the final day of the 2013 season.

Beckett also became the first visiting pitcher to throw a no-hitter in Philadelphia since Montreal's Bill Stoneman stopped the Phillies on April 17, 1969, at Connie Mack Stadium.

All of the defensive plays behind Beckett were routine. Domonic Brown had the hardest out, a liner that left fielder Carl Crawford ran down near the warning track in the fifth.

Beckett sat at the end of the bench, next to a security guard, as the Dodgers batted in the ninth inning, before taking the mound in his bid for history.

"It was awesome. You think about it pretty much from the fourth on. I'm not one of those guys that carried a lot of no-hitters deep into games," he said.

Beckett's longest previous bid was 6 2-3 innings before allowing a single to Detroit's Curtis Granderson on June 3, 2009.

Beckett retired pinch-hitter Tony Gwynn Jr. on a popup to shortstop to start the ninth. Speedy Ben Revere followed with a grounder that first baseman Adrian Gonzalez fielded, and he flipped to Beckett covering the bag for the second out.

"It was the most excited I've ever been playing defence," Gonzalez said.

Jimmy Rollins was up next, and Beckett walked him on a full-count pitch. That brought up Utley, and when the count when to 3-2, Butera went to the mound to talk to Beckett.

Beckett then threw a 94 mph fastball that Utley looked at, and plate umpire Brian Knight called strike three to end it.

"I knew he wasn't expecting me to throw a fastball down the middle," Beckett said.

A pitch before striking out, Utley took a few steps toward first base when he thought a 3-1 delivery was ball four. Instead, it was strike two.

Utley left the clubhouse before reporters arrived.

"He had real good stuff right down to the final batter," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. "Our best hitter not swinging at the last two strikes is an indicator right there."

Beckett walked off the mound, pumped his fist and was mobbed by teammates. He got a standing ovation from the crowd of 36,141 at Citizens Bank Park on his way to the dugout.

"That was a lot of fun," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "He's been throwing well all year and his breaking ball and change keep getting better."

Last July, Beckett had a rib removed in thoracic outlet syndrome surgery to fix a condition that was affecting his right arm. He went 0-5 with a 5.19 ERA in eight games in 2013.

Beckett (3-1) started this season on the disabled list with a thumb injury, raising more doubts about how effective he would be for a team with post-season expectations.

"I just wanted to help the team," he said. "You always want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem."

Beckett was the MVP of the 2003 World Series for the Marlins, capping off their championship run by pitching a five-hit shutout in the clinching Game 6 at Yankee Stadium.

Roy Halladay had the only other no-hitter at cozy Citizens Bank Park, doing it for the Phillies in a 4-0 playoff win over Cincinnati on Oct. 6, 2010.

In 1988, Pascual Perez of the Expos held the host Phillies hitless for five innings at Veterans Stadium before the game was stopped because of rain. A Major League Baseball committee later ruled that no-hitters of less than nine innings didn't officially count.

Beckett walked Utley in the first and Marlon Byrd in the second before retiring 23 straight batters.

Beckett threw a one-hitter for the Red Sox at Tampa Bay on June 15, 2011. He allowed an infield single to current Phillies utilityman Reid Brignac in the third inning of a 3-0 win.

The Phillies were shut out for the fourth time in their last seven home games and seventh time this season.

Phillies righty A.J. Burnett (3-4) allowed four earned runs and 11 hits in seven innings in a matchup against his former Marlins teammate. Burnett is 1-3 with a 6.26 in his last four starts.

Gonzalez's RBI double to right-centre with two outs in the first gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.

Justin Turner led off the second with a solo homer to straightaway centre that just cleared the wall to make it 2-0. Turner singled and scored on Erisbel Arruebarrena's two-out single in the sixth, giving the Dodgers a 3-0 lead.

Sandberg allowed Burnett to lead off the bottom of the sixth instead of pinch-hitting for him with a 3-0 deficit. Burnett grounded out and then allowed three runs in the seventh.

Beckett followed Burnett as one of the prized young arms in Florida a decade ago. It was the fifth time they've faced each other and first matchup since Aug. 7, 2009, when Beckett was in Boston and Burnett pitched for the Yankees. New York won that game 2-0 in the 15th inning.

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Erik Bedard set to challenge homer-happy Blue Jays

Another home-run barrage has helped the Toronto Blue Jays to their longest winning streak, though they could have a difficult time extending that power surge versus Tampa Bay.

Erik Bedard, one of baseball's stingiest pitchers in allowing homers, hopes to keep giving the Rays' banged-up rotation a lift.

As the American League East rivals begin a three-game set Monday (7:07 p.m. ET), the first-place Blue Jays seek their seventh straight victory while denying visiting Tampa Bay its fifth consecutive win.

Toronto (29-22) homered for the eighth straight contest Sunday when Edwin Encarnacion hit the team's 14th over that span and his club-best 14th of the season in a 3-1 win over Oakland at Rogers Centre.

Encarnacion has led the onslaught with six homers and 10 runs batted in over his last seven games. He also has 12 homers this month, tying the team record for May set by Jose Bautista in 2010.

'''He makes the game look a little bit easier,'' catcher Erik Kratz said. "It's definitely exciting to watch.''

The Blue Jays, atop the division this late for the first time since July 6, 2000, lead the majors with 70 home runs. They haven't homered in nine consecutive contests since April 27-May 5, 2012.

Matching that streak isn't likely to be easy against Bedard (2-2, 2.63 earned-run average), who ranks fourth in the majors with 0.24 homers allowed per nine innings among starters who have pitched at least 35.

With Jeremy Hellickson and Matt Moore out with injuries, Bedard has filled in nicely by going 2-1 with a 0.96 ERA in his last five starts. On Wednesday, he gave up three runs (one earned) and one hit over 5 1/3 innings in a 3-2 home loss to Oakland.

The veteran left-hander had a season-high six strikeouts but allowed his only homer in 37 2/3 innings.

Bedard hasn't fared well versus the Blue Jays, going 0-4 with a 5.01 ERA in his last eight starts. Melky Cabrera and former Tampa Bay catcher Dioner Navarro haven't been able to figure him out, going a combined 3-for-27 with nine strikeouts.

Jose Reyes, though, has been seeing the ball well with a .353 average over an eight-game hitting streak. He's also hitting .381 over his last five home meetings with the Rays (23-28).

Looking to win a career-high third consecutive start, Toronto's Drew Hutchison (3-3, 3.45) hopes to contribute to a rotation that has a 2.61 ERA while the team has won 11 of 13.

The right-hander allowed one run over 5 2/3 innings Wednesday in a 6-4 win at Boston. He scattered three hits over 5 1/3 scoreless innings in a 4-2 victory over the Rays on April 1 when the teams split a season-opening four-game set.

Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria went 3-for-4 with his fifth home run as Tampa Bay swept Boston with Sunday's 8-5 home win.

Sean Rodriguez had a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the seventh inning before Yunel Escobar hit a two-run double and later took third on defensive indifference to set off a bench-clearing brawl.

Escobar, Rodriguez and Boston's Jonny Gomes were ejected in Joe Maddon's 700th win as Rays manager.

Longoria, who had eight hits in the series, went 6-for-15 with a homer and four RBIs in the April series versus Toronto. Brandon Guyer also looks to keep swinging a hot bat after going 6-for-10 in his last two versus Boston.

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R.A. Dickey rolls, Blue Jays win 5th straight

This time, the seventh inning was a breeze for R.A. Dickey.

The veteran Toronto knuckleballer, who had made it through six innings in his previous six starts but each time failed to get out the seventh, turned in his strongest performance of the season Saturday, going 8 1/3 innings as the Blue Jays defeated the Oakland Athletics, 5-2 at Rogers Centre.

"I feel like I've been right on the edge of a game like this for a long time," said Dickey, who gave up five hits, struck out four and only walked one in improving to 5-4. "That's what's been encouraging.

"Thankfully today, I was able to break through the seventh and get into the eighth and ninth."

Dickey received a standing ovation from 29,372 fans when he left with one out and two on in the ninth. The A's made it interesting, getting the tying run to the plate in that final at-bat, but Brett Cecil got Jed Lowrie on a sacrifice fly and struck out Alberto Callaspo for his third save and Toronto's fifth straight win.

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher R.A. Dickey works against the Oakland Athletics during Saturday's matinee contest. (Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press)

The win moved the Blue Jays 2 1/2 games up on the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees atop the American League East. The last time Toronto was alone in first place this late in the season was July 6, 2000.

Dickey, who won the 2012 National League Cy Young Award with the New York Mets, lowered his earned run average to 3.95, the first time it's been under 4.00 since he joined the Blue Jays in 2013.

"It's great for our team to be able to keep the momentum that we've been generating over the past week-and-a-half or so," said Dickey, who retired 19 of 21 hitters he faced at one stretch. "It's nice to feel like you did your part in that."

"He was dealing it," said Toronto manager John Gibbons. "He really was. He was strong. He was very efficient. That particular pitch he throws, when it's on it's tough to do anything with it.

"You can usually tell early on when he's got his good one going and today he did."

Brett Lawrie had a home run for the Blue Jays, while Melky Cabrera had two hits and two runs batted in and Jose Reyes had a pair of hits as Toronto (28-22) won for the 10th time in their last 12 games. They did their damage on Jesse Chavez (4-2), who gave up four runs, two of which were unearned, and eight hits.

The Blue Jays used their speed and took advantage of some sloppy defence from Oakland (30-19).

"We generated some runs today," said Gibbons as Reyes scored twice from second on balls that never left the infield and Anthony Gose plated from first on a bobble in left field.

"The old saying is 'Speed never goes in slumps.'"

After Oakland opened the scoring in the second inning on a Yeonis Cespedes solo home run to straightaway centre field, the Blue Jays tied it up in the third. Gose, who reached on a fielder's choice, was moving first to third on Cabrera's two-out, opposite field single when left-fielder Craig Gentry bobbled the ball, allowing the fleet-footed Gose to fly around third and slide into the plate ahead of the throw.

Toronto took the lead for good with three runs in the fifth. After Lawrie led off the inning by slamming his eighth home run into the Blue Jays bullpen to make it 2-1, they added some insurance, again courtesy of speed and shoddy defence by the A's.

Gose slapped a sharp single the other way with one-out and moved up to third on a single by Reyes. After a wild pitch advanced Reyes to second, Cabrera hit a ground ball to first baseman Brandon Moss, who booted it as Gose was coming in to score and then flipped it past a covering Chavez, which allowed Reyes to scamper home, punctuating the run with a run head-first slide, making it 4-1.

Reyes repeated the feat in the seventh to put the Blue Jays up 5-1. After a lead-off double, he scored all the way from second when Cabrera hit a routine groundball to shortstop but the A's made the play too slowly, again allowing Reyes to slide across home plate head-first before Moss could throw him out.

"That's the way I play the game when I'm healthy," said Reyes, who spent the early part of the season on the disabled list with a hamstring injury. "Stealing bases. Sliding all over the place.

"When I'm pain-free I'm able to do that stuff, so I'm feeling happy. Not only for me, but for the whole team because we're playing really good baseball. It's always fun when you're winning."

Toronto will go for the three-game sweep of the AL West leaders on Sunday afternoon.

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Blue Jays look to sweep away Athletics

A former top prospect with a sinking 94-mph fastball and a unique knuckle-curveball, surprising Drew Pomeranz appears to have found a comfort zone with the Oakland Athletics.

As he looks to keep his scoreless streak alive, Pomeranz will face a difficult road test Sunday when he tries to keep the high-scoring Toronto Blue Jays from a season-high sixth straight victory.

After going 4-14 with a 5.40 ERA in 30 starts for Colorado from 2011-13, Pomeranz (4-1, 0.94 ERA) has been spotless since replacing the ineffective Dan Straily in Oakland's rotation this season.

The 2010 first-round draft pick has allowed eight hits with 16 strikeouts over 15 scoreless innings to win each of his first three starts. The left-hander gave up three hits over five innings in a 3-0 victory at Tampa Bay on Tuesday for his first road win since 2012.

Pomeranz has received a total of 11 runs of support while holding batters to a .157 average since joining the rotation, and Oakland has shut out all three opponents.

"My three starts have been a great team effort," he said. "We scored a lot of runs and the bullpen shut them down."

Now Pomeranz hopes to keep putting up zeros while helping the A's (30-19) avoid their season-worst fourth straight defeat following an 11-1 stretch.

That isn't likely to be easy against a Toronto team that leads the majors with 69 homers and ranks near the top with 243 runs. The Blue Jays (28-22) have scored 28 times with 10 home runs during their five-game win streak.

Brett Lawrie hit his ninth home run and Melky Cabrera had two hits and two RBIs in Saturday's 5-2 victory. Jose Reyes is batting .323 during a seven-game hitting streak, while Adam Lind has gone 7 for 16 in his last four.

The Blue Jays will give the ball to J.A. Happ (3-1, 4.37) as they try to sweep Oakland in a series of at least three games for the first time since taking four straight at home in August 2008.

Toronto starting pitchers have a 2.85 ERA while the team has won 10 of 12. The Blue Jays are atop the AL East this late into a season for the first time since July 6, 2000.

Happ has alternated good and bad performances in four starts since joining the rotation. He won despite a subpar outing Tuesday, giving up four runs and seven hits over five-plus innings in a 7-4 victory at Boston.

The left-hander was dominant in his only career start against Oakland despite not getting a decision, surrendering one run and three hits over seven innings in a 5-1 loss Aug. 12.

Although the A's lead the league with 247 runs, the AL West leaders have totaled 12 while hitting .175 in their last five games. Yoenis Cespedes went 3 for 4 with his eighth home run Saturday, but the rest of the team totaled three hits.

"I think we were just getting frustrated getting shut down offensively, again," first baseman Brandon Moss told the team's official website.

While Moss is batting .368 with five homers and 13 RBIs in his last 10 games, many Oakland hitters are scuffling during the team's nine-game road trip which ends Sunday. Josh Reddick has gone 5 for 30, Coco Crisp is 5 for 26 and Alberto Callaspo and Jed Lowrie are each 3 for 18.

John Jaso is 4 for 21 in that span but expected to miss a third straight game with a back injury.

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Rangers place Prince Fielder on DL ahead of neck surgery

Prince Fielder was placed on the disabled list Friday, days before he is scheduled to have season-ending neck surgery.

The move by the Texas Rangers came a day after the team said Fielder would have cervical fusion surgery Tuesday for the herniated disk in his neck. General manager Jon Daniels said he expected a second opinion to confirm the initial recommendation for the operation.

It is the first time the durable first baseman has been on the DL in his career. Before a nerve root block injection to treat his neck last Saturday, Fielder's 547 consecutive games played was the longest active streak in the majors. Fielder, who turned 30 earlier this month, missed only one game the previous five seasons and hadn't missed a game since Sept. 14, 2010.

Fielder went on the 15-day DL, retroactive to May 17.

Infielder Donnie Murphy was recalled from an injury rehab assignment and activated for the game against the Tigers. Mitch Moreland was set to start at first base, where he played last year before the trade for Fielder pushed him toward the designated hitter role.

"A big blow for us as a team, losing him in the middle of the lineup," Moreland said. "But we've been dealing with adversity all year."

Moreland hit 23 home runs last season. He was hitting .275 entering Friday night's game at Detroit.

"Prince is on the DL. We don't have him," manager Ron Washington said. "And there's nobody who can replace him, so let Mitch Moreland be Mitch Moreland. Don't even mention Mitch Moreland in the same breath with a Prince Fielder."

Murphy was placed on the disabled list May 8 with a neck strain. He was hurt when he tripped at first base trying to beat out a ground ball the previous day against Colorado. He played six games on an injury rehab assignment at Triple-A Round Rock, and Friday was the date he was eligible to return to the roster.

The Rangers have a majors-high 13 players on the disabled list. They have had 17 DL placements this season, also the most in the majors.

Fielder hit .247 with three home runs and 16 RBIs in 42 games in his first season with the Rangers. The only time he has played fewer games was when he appeared in 39 as a rookie in 2005 with Milwaukee.

The Tigers, meanwhile, sent minor league infielder Francisco Martinez outright to Double-A Erie, a move that cleared room on the 40-man roster for right-hander Corey Knebel. Knebel's contract was purchased by the Tigers from Triple-A Toledo.

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R.A. Dickey starts as Blue Jays go for 5th straight win

The Toronto Blue Jays may not have baseball's most talented roster, but they've managed to surge to the top of one of the most competitive divisions.

Regardless of the outcome Saturday against the Oakland Athletics, Toronto will hold at least a portion of first place this late into a season for the first time in 14 years.

The Blue Jays (27-22) won for the ninth time in 11 games with a 3-2 victory over the Athletics on Friday to maintain a 1 1/2-game lead over second-place Baltimore in the AL East.

Toronto was also in first after games played on May 23, 2009, but lost the next day and never reclaimed the top spot. The Blue Jays haven't been atop the division this late into the season since July 6, 2000, when they were 46-40.

"In Major League Baseball it's not always the team with the most talent that wins," manager John Gibbons said. "Sometimes it's the teams with the lesser talent but they just compete, compete and all they care about is winning. That's what it takes."

Solid starting pitching and a potent lineup, however, have certainly played a big role in the Blue Jays' success.

Toronto starting pitchers have a 1.96 ERA in the last three games and a 2.94 mark in the last 11.

The Blue Jays also lead the majors with 68 homers, and they are 13-2 since May 4 in games they've gone deep. Steve Tolleson hit a two-run home run Friday, Toronto's 12th in its last six games.

"It takes contributions from all of the hitters at any given time," Tolleson told the Blue Jays' official website. "We have a tremendous lineup."

Oakland (30-18) was a season-best 14 games over .500 on Wednesday on the heels of an 11-1 stretch, but has since dropped two in a row.

Giving the ball to Jess Chavez (4-1, 2.54 ERA) could help them bounce back considering the A's are 8-1 in his starts.

Chavez has allowed four runs - all on solo homers - over 13 innings in his last two starts. The right-hander gave up two runs and six hits in five innings in Sunday's 13-3 win over Cleveland. He struck out six, walked three and threw a career-high 109 pitches.

The former reliever, who appeared in nine games for Toronto in 2012, gave up three runs and retired one batter in his only appearance against his former team on July 31.

The Blue Jays give the ball to R.A. Dickey (4-4, 4.20), who was pushed back a day to separate his spot in the rotation from Mark Buehrle.

"They're our old reliable guys, kind of our innings eaters," Gibbons said.

Now it's just a matter of getting Dickey to pitch effectively late in games.

Dickey has pitched into the seventh inning in each of his last six starts, but has retired just three of the 17 batters he's faced. He has held opponents to a .206 average through the first six innings on the season, but they're 10 for 20 with seven extra-base hits off him in the seventh.

The right-hander served up a two-run homer in the seventh inning in Sunday's 6-2 loss to Texas. He yielded four runs over 6 1-3 innings in losing for the first time in six starts.

Dickey is 1-0 with a 1.87 ERA in five starts against the A's since 2008. Coco Crisp is 0 for 14 versus Dickey since 2008, and Brandon Moss is 2 for 9 with a homer.

Moss continued his tear at the plate Friday, homering for the sixth time in 13 games. He is batting .373 with seven doubles and 16 RBIs over that stretch.

''We did the things that it takes to win a game, it just didn't happen,'' Moss said.

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Prince Fielder to have season-ending neck surgery

Prince Fielder is expected to have neck surgery next week and miss the rest of the season.

Fielder has been out with a herniated disk in his neck, and surgery was recommended after a follow-up exam and another scan Thursday with Dr. Drew Dossett.

General manager Jon Daniels said the team would get second opinion about surgery, but were "expecting that to be confirmed."

Daniels said Dossett was tentatively scheduled to do a cervical fusion Tuesday. That operation has a typical recovery time of three to four months, and the GM said he anticipated Fielder being able to be fully recovered before spring training next year.

The Rangers already have a majors-high 13 players on the disabled list. Fielder will become the 14th when that move is made Friday.

Fielder had played in 547 consecutive games, then the longest active streak in the majors, before receiving a nerve root block injection Saturday to treat his neck. He had played all 162 games four of the past five seasons, and missed only one game in 2010.

Before that, the durable first baseman that turned 30 earlier this month hadn't missed a game since Sept. 14, 2010. The last time he had missed consecutive games was Aug. 24-25, 2007, while with Milwaukee.

Texas acquired Fielder last winter from Detroit in a trade for second baseman Ian Kinsler. Fielder is signed through 2020, the rest of the nine-year deal he signed with the Tigers after going there as a free agent for the 2012 season.

After the injection, Fielder took a couple of days off before an exam Monday. Daniels said the slugger's strength tested normal then and that his symptoms had largely gone away, so he was given clearance to resume baseball activity.

Fielder was initially listed in the lineup Tuesday night against Seattle, but was scratched more than three hours before the game after feeling weakness in his arm while taking swings in the batting cage. And he felt no better Wednesday.

"His symptoms have gotten worse," Daniels said Thursday, describing Fielder as frustrated for not feeling like himself and being able to help the team.

Daniels said he wasn't surprised by the news he got from Dossett on Thursday.

"Talking to (Fielder) and seeing him, you knew this was something that was bothering him," Daniels said. "We were hoping the injection could get him through the season, and sometimes you have that kind of response. The initial response was positive. But when he had the setback on Tuesday, we kind of felt this is where it was headed."

Daniels said there is a very high success rate for the kind of surgery Fielder will have.

"We're looking forward to seeing this guy healthy and doing what he can do," Daniels said. "It's more of a 2015 thing. We're going to miss him this year."

Fielder has hit .247 with three home runs and 16 RBIs in 42 games this season. The only time he has played fewer games was 39 as a rookie in 2005.

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Blue Jays swat Red Sox for rare sweep in Boston

Mark Buehrle got his major league-leading eighth win with a big boost from Toronto's powerful lineup. Neither was surprising.

"Look what he's done all year," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said after a 7-2 win over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday.

"Who's pitched better in baseball?"

Buehrle (8-1) has eight wins through May for the first time since 2002 and an earned-run average of 2.16. He gave up two runs in the first two innings. But by then, Toronto had seven, starting with homers on consecutive pitches by Melky Cabrera and Jose Bautista in the first inning.

That gave the Blue Jays a major league-high 67 homers and gave Buehrle a big cushion.

The 15-year veteran lefty blanked the Red Sox for his final five innings and allowed seven hits and no walks while striking out five in seven innings.

Dustin McGowan pitched two shutout innings as the Blue Jays took a half-game lead over the New York Yankees in the American League East.

"It's nice, obviously" to lead the majors in wins, "but I've always said you can go out your next eight starts and [stink] and be under .500," Buehrle said. "I try to throw it out the window and get ready for my next start."

Toronto improved to 8-2 in its past 10 games, while Boston lost its seventh straight. The Red Sox went 0-6 on their homestand, the first time since June 1994, when they also lost six in a row at Fenway Park, that they were winless on a homestand of at least six games.

"We're in a stretch of games here where we're giving up too many runs early and we're scuffling to score runs," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "That's a dangerous combination."

Red Sox ace Jon Lester (4-6) had his worst outing of the season, allowing seven runs and seven hits through 1 1-3 innings. Then he settled down and retired 12 straight batters before giving up a single to Kevin Pillar with one out in the seventh. But Pillar was caught stealing.

Lester left with one out in the seventh after allowing 10 hits and striking out just three. He had averaged an AL-best 10.83 strikeouts per nine innings.

"The list goes on and on of things that I just flat out didn't do," Lester said. "I just wasn't able to do it with anything.

"Pick a pitch, I wasn't able to do it."

Buehrle retired 11 of his last 12 batters. He began the day tied with Zack Greinke, Rick Porcello and Adam Wainwright with seven wins each. The Dodgers' Greinke was scheduled to pitch against the New York Mets on Thursday night.

Buehrle's only loss came at home against Boston on April 25 when he allowed seven runs in an 8-1 loss.

Lester retired the first batter of the game, Jose Reyes, on a grounder. But Cabrera hit a 1-0 pitch for his eighth homer and Bautista followed with his 12th.

"You never anticipate that because [Lester's] one of the best," Gibbons said.

In the second, six of Toronto's first seven batters reached base on five hits and a walk. Steve Tolleson and Pillar singled and moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Anthony Gose. Reyes doubled in both runners and stole second. Cabrera walked and Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion followed with RBI singles. Bautista came across when Brett Lawrie grounded into a forceout at second, making it 7-1.

The inning ended when centre-fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. made a diving catch on a fly ball by Dioner Navarro.

Boston scored in the first on a leadoff double by Dustin Pedroia and a single by Jonny Gomes then added a run in the second on Xander Bogaerts' third homer.

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Edwin Encarnacion homers twice again as Jays beat Red Sox

The last time the Blue Jays faced Clay Buchholz, Edwin Encarnacion was left out of the starting lineup because of his career numbers against the Red Sox right-hander.

This time, the Toronto first baseman was too hot to sit.

"I don't think you can get any hotter than this," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said on Wednesday night after Encarnacion led Toronto to a 6-4 victory over Boston by hitting two homers off Buchholz — his second straight multi-homer game. "He erased all that, though."

Entering the game with just one hit in 21 at-bats against Buchholz (2-4), Encarnacion hit a solo homer in the second inning and a two-run shot in the third. Encarnacion, who homered twice in Toronto's 7-4 victory on Tuesday, now has seven homers in his last six games.

He is the first Toronto player to have four multi-homer games in a month, and the first major-leaguer to do so since Troy Tulowitzki in September of 2010.

"It's crazy how this game is," Encarnacion said. "In April, I only had two homers; now I have (11) this month and two in one day. That shows you how crazy this is."

Drew Hutchison (3-3) allowed one run in 5 1-3 innings for Toronto, which has won seven of its last nine games. Casey Janssen pitched the ninth for his fifth save.

Xander Bogaerts had three hits, including two doubles, as Boston lost its sixth consecutive game. It's the team's longest losing streak since dropping the final eight games of the 2012 season, ending the Bobby Valentine era after one year.

Buchholz allowed four earned runs in 4 2-3 innings, striking out two while walking two and giving up nine hits — including two homers to a batter he had dominated.

"He's a dangerous hitter with tremendous power," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "You make mistakes, he makes you pay. This is a quick strike offense."

The Blue Jays made it 4-0 after three innings thanks to Encarnacion's two homers into the seats above the Green Monster. Shane Victorino homered for Boston — his first since a Grand Slam in Game 6 of the AL championship series against the Detroit Tigers — to make it 4-1.

Dioner Navarro's RBI single in the fifth made it 5-1 and chased Buchholz. The Blue Jays added another run in the seventh on Anthony Gose's RBI single.

The Red Sox scored three in the eighth to make it a two-run game thanks partly to back-to-back RBI doubles by Mike Carp and Bogaerts. Brock Holt singled to score Bogaerts before Brett Cecil struck out Grady Sizemore and then Steve Delabar, on his first pitch, retired Dustin Pedroia on a groundout.

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Mark Buehrle, Blue Jays seek sweep of Red Sox

Edwin Encarnacion is in the midst of a torrid stretch, and the skidding Boston Red Sox are finding themselves on the wrong end of it.

The Toronto Blue Jays hope Encarnacion's power surge continues as they try to wrap up their third series sweep at Fenway Park since the start of 2012 on Thursday (4:05 p.m. ET).

Encarnacion has homered seven times in his last six games and twice in each of first two of this series after connecting for his 12th and 13th home runs in Wednesday's 6-4 victory. He's the first player to record four two-homer games in a month since Troy Tulowitzki in September 2010.

The Blue Jays (25-22) may not need another big game from Encarnacion with Mark Buehrle (7-1, 2.11 earned-run average) on the mound, though Boston is responsible for his lone loss this season.

The left-hander will take aim at a major league-leading eighth win — Los Angeles' Zack Greinke will also go for his eighth victory Thursday — a mark Buehrle didn't reach last year until Aug. 10 in his 24th start.

Buehrle has been especially dominant away from home, going 4-0 with a 1.25 ERA in five outings. He yielded two runs over 6 2/3 innings in a 4-2 win at Texas on Saturday, not getting the decision.

Boston, however, reached him for a season-worst six earned runs and 12 hits in 5 1/3 innings of an 8-1 win April 25. Buehrle has gone 8-10 with a 4.53 ERA in 24 career starts against Boston.

Encarnacion hit two homers in his first 32 contests but has 11 and 21 RBIs in his past 15. The third baseman has also driven in 14 runs in his last 13 matchups with Boston, with 10 extra-base hits.

"He's a dangerous hitter with tremendous power," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "You make mistakes, he makes you pay."

Encarnacion is 8-for-39 (.205) with two home runs off scheduled Thursday starter Jon Lester. However, he came into Wednesday's game at 1-for-21 against Clay Buchholz before homering twice off of him.

The Red Sox (20-25) have scored 14 runs during a six-game slide - their longest since dropping eight in a row to end the 2013 season. A loss Thursday would leave them with their first winless homestand of at least six games since going 0-6 from June 10-15, 1994.

Boston's starting pitchers have also played a major role in the losing streak, posting a 6.68 ERA and failing to complete more than six innings in any game.

Lester (4-5, 2.67) supplied the best performance in that stretch, allowing a run and four hits over five innings of a 1-0 loss to Detroit on Friday. The Red Sox managed three hits.

The right-hander was limited to a season-low 94 pitches, largely due to a 47-minute rain delay in the fourth inning.

Lester yielded four runs over seven innings of a 7-1 loss at Toronto on April 27. He was 4-0 with a 2.55 ERA in six starts against the Blue Jays last season.

Jose Bautista is 11-for-57 (.193) with 12 strikeouts against Lester, though four of those hits were homers.

Dustin Pedroia is 14-for-36 (.389) against Buehrle.

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Dodgers' Miguel Olivo reportedly bites off part of teammate's ear

Los Angeles Dodgers minor league teammates Alex Guerrero and Miguel Olivo have gotten into a fight during a game with Triple-A Albuquerque.

Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti says the team is looking into what precipitated the altercation on Tuesday. He says he was disappointed to hear about the fight and the Dodgers don't condone it.

The Los Angeles Times reports that agent Scott Boras says a part of Guerrero's ear was bitten off by Olivo.

Colletti said he doesn't think either player sustained an injury that would keep him from playing. The Dodgers released a statement saying the baseball operations department "is aware of the altercation and is conducting an investigation into the matter."

"I've talked to the coaches, I've talked to a lot of different people. They're still looking into it. So until we know exactly what happened and what precipitated what, don't have anything else really to add to it," Colletti said. "I'll talk to everybody that I think can help us understand what took place."

According to Jon Morosi of the MLB Network, the authorities may be getting involved:

Guerrero, an infielder from Cuba, signed a $28 million, four-year deal with the Dodgers in October. He was beaten out for the starting second base job by Dee Gordon in spring training.

Olivo has displayed a hot temper on the field before, charging at Jose Reyes and missing with a wild punch during a dustup between the Marlins and Mets late in the 2007 season.

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Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays go deep in Boston

Edwin Encarnacion continued his torrid run through May, which is only two-thirds over.

Encarnacion hit a pair of two-run homers for Toronto as the Blue Jays took a big lead early and held on to beat the slumping Boston Red Sox 7-4 on Tuesday night.

Encarnacion has hit nine of his 11 homers this season this month, which has 10 days left.

"He is pretty good," Toronto manager John Gibbons said. "But even last year I think he got off to a slow start somewhat. It's not going to hold him down. It's usually just a matter of time."

Melky Cabrera and Erik Kratz also homered for the Blue Jays, who won for the sixth time in eight games and extended Boston's losing streak to five straight.

J.A. Happ (3-1) struck out six in the first three innings and picked up his third win in four starts since joining the rotation.

"I felt like it was going to be a good night," Happ said. "I was trying to attack the zone and I felt my location was good."

Jonny Gomes hit a two-run homer for Boston. The losing streak is the longest for the Red Sox since 2012.

Casey Janssen picked up his fourth save, with a rocky ninth inning. Dustin Pedroia and Shane Victorino led off the ninth with consecutive singles. David Ortiz nearly tied it with a long fly ball that drifted foul, and then struck out. Janssen got Mike Napoli to ground into a double play to end it.

"If you get to the ninth inning with the lead and you've got your closer in there, you've just got to let it ride. You try to get to that point and the game's on the line," Gibbons said.

Encarnacion hit a two-run homer in the third and Kratz added a solo shot in the fourth off Felix Doubront (2-4), who left the game after Jose Reyes and Cabrera opened the fifth with back-to-back doubles. The Red Sox said Doubront complained of fatigue in his left shoulder.

"This is the first night he's felt this to this extent. His stuff was diminishing even in the early innings, particularly between the fourth and fifth," Boston manager John Farrell said.

Edward Mujica replaced Doubront and struck out Jose Bautista, but Encarnacion followed with a towering shot to left for his second two-run homer of the night and Toronto led 6-0.

Boston scored twice in the fifth, and then Cabrera added a solo shot to left in the sixth.

Happ started the sixth but was pulled after Gomes' two-run homer cut Toronto's lead to 7-4. He allowed four runs on seven hits and struck out six.

Napoli led off the sixth with a single and Gomes followed with a homer that bounced off the top of the Green Monster. Crew chief Gary Cederstrom needed only about 30 seconds to review the video before confirming it was a home run, pulling Boston within 7-4.

Boston is on its longest skid since losing the last eight games of the 2012 season. The Red Sox were 3 for 14 with runners in scoring position and left nine on base.

"We're in a little rut right now but we'll find a way to get out of it," Pedroia said.

Boston loaded the bases with one out in the fourth, but third baseman Brett Lawrie helped get Happ out of the jam.

Lawrie lunged at a line drive by Xander Bogaerts that was headed for left field. The ball bounced out of his glove when he landed, but Lawrie quickly grabbed it, tagged third for the force out and threw it to Kratz to double-up David Ortiz at the plate.

"Lawrie made an unbelievable play," Happ said. "I don't know if anybody else makes that play. Really athletic. That was huge."

Doubront allowed five runs on five hits, striking out two and walking three.

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Yankees' CC Sabathia to miss 6 more weeks

New York pitcher suffering from degenerative cartilage condition

The Associated Press Posted: May 19, 2014 9:36 PM ET Last Updated: May 19, 2014 9:36 PM ET

Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia is expected to miss at least six more weeks with an injured right knee.

The left-hander was placed on the 15-day disabled list May 11. He was examined by Dr. James Andrews last week and had his knee drained. Sabathia also received a cortisone and stem cell injection Thursday to treat a degenerative cartilage condition.

The team confirmed Monday that the procedure means Sabathia likely will remain sidelined through at least the end of June, maybe longer.

The 2007 AL Cy Young Award winner is 3-4 with a 5.28 ERA in eight starts. He has allowed 10 home runs in 46 innings.

New York also is missing injured starters Ivan Nova and Michael Pineda, forcing the Yankees to go with a makeshift rotation that includes Vidal Nuno, David Phelps and rookie Chase Whitley.

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Blue Jays pay first visit of season to Fenway Park

Mired in their longest skid under manager John Farrell, the Boston Red Sox have been playing more like the team that finished last in the AL East in 2012 than the one that won the World Series last season.

The Red Sox will try to avoid a fifth straight loss Tuesday night when they open a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays, who seek their sixth win in eight games.

Boston (20-23) didn't lose four in a row at any point during its championship run in Farrell's first season, making this slide the club's worst since dropping eight straight to close out 2012.

The Toronto Blue Jays recalled left-hander Rob Rasmussen from triple-A Buffalo on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old reliever has appeared in 13 games for the Bisons this season. He has a 0-1 record and 2.65 earned-run average with 19 strikeouts.

The move was made two days after the team optioned right-hander Marcus Stroman to the Bisons.

— The Canadian Press

That team had a respectable offense but finished with one of the highest ERAs in baseball en route to a 69-93 record.

This year's version isn't getting it done in either area. Boston has totaled six runs and hit .189 in the last four games, while the rotation has posted a 5.73 ERA in the past six following Sunday night's 6-2 home loss to Detroit.

A.J. Pierzynski (2 for 25), Grady Sizemore (4 for 24), Dustin Pedroia (5 for 25) and Mike Napoli (9 for 51) are among those scuffling at the plate. David Ortiz was hitting .475 with five homers during a 10-game hitting streak before going 0 for 2 with two walks Sunday.

"We've got to be better in all phases," Farrell told the team's official website. "Toronto comes in here, and this is a team that's playing well. Collectively, we have to be better all the way around."

Farrell's club, which totaled 16 runs while taking two of three in Toronto from April 25-27, will try to regroup in this set before opening a stretch of 24 of 36 on the road.

The Blue Jays (23-22) had posted a 1.76 ERA over a five-game road winning streak before Sunday's 6-2 loss to Texas.

After starting the season on the disabled list before going to the bullpen, Toronto's J.A. Happ (2-1, 3.57 ERA) has pitched well in two of his first three starts.

The left-hander allowed one run over six innings in Thursday's 4-2 home win over Cleveland.

"I think you're always (trying to prove something) to somebody," Happ said. "I felt good, definitely nice to go out there and have a fairly strong outing."

Happ will make his first start at Fenway Park after going 1-2 with a 5.06 ERA in four starts against Boston dating to his time with Philadelphia.

Boston's Felix Doubront (2-3, 4.54) hopes to build on his last two outings in which he's given up two runs over 11 2-3 innings following a five-start stretch in which he went 0-3 with a 5.84 ERA.

The left-hander picked up his first victory since April 3 by surrendering one run over 6 1-3 innings in 9-4 victory at Minnesota on Wednesday. He went 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA in two home starts against the Blue Jays last season.

Toronto slugger Jose Bautista, who has three hits - all home runs - in 14 at-bats against Doubront, is 11 for 23 with five homers and 10 RBIs in his last six games at Fenway. Juan Francisco has gone 7 for 18 with three homers and seven RBIs in his last five overall.

The Blue Jays have dropped five of seven in Boston.

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Colorado Rockies turn triple play against Padres

3rd such feat in franchise history

The Associated Press Posted: May 18, 2014 5:43 PM ET Last Updated: May 18, 2014 5:43 PM ET

The Colorado Rockies have turned a triple play against the San Diego Padres, the third in team history.

In the third inning Sunday, third baseman Nolan Arenado fielded a grounder by Carlos Quentin and stepped on the bag. He threw to second baseman D.J. LeMahieu, who relayed the ball on to first.

Quentin was originally ruled safe at first, but the second base umpire called Seth Smith for baserunner interference as he slid into second.

It was Colorado's first triple play since shortstop Troy Tulowitzki turned an unassisted one April 29, 2007, against Atlanta. The last time the Padres hit into a triple play was April 15, 2012, at Los Angeles against the Dodgers.

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R.A. Dickey, Blue Jays can't complete sweep of Rangers

Mitch Moreland will be the guy at first base for Texas if Prince Fielder's neck problem keeps him out for any length of time.

His bat was a big boost a few hours after a players-only meeting for a slumping team trying to halt a slide down the AL West standings.

Moreland hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning, Alex Rios had a two-run triple and the Rangers avoided a three-game sweep with a 6-2 victory against the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday.

"I'd like to see him do that more often, then he can get more playing time," manager Ron Washington said after Moreland doubled in his final at-bat. "Mitch is a big part and today he stepped up huge for us."

Washington expects Fielder to play in the next game Tuesday night against Seattle after he had an injection designed to ease the pain and pressure of a disk problem in his neck that he says goes back to last season.

If the outlook on Fielder changes, Moreland says his approach won't.

"We've had to deal with adversity all year," said Moreland, whose second homer of the season was a line drive just over the wall in right field off R.A. Dickey (4-4) to break a 2-all tie. "You come in every day ready to play."

The Rangers, who snapped a four-game losing streak and stayed seven games behind Oakland in fourth place in the AL West, had gone 23 innings without an extra-base hit when Rios drove one off the right-centre wall in the fourth.

Juan Francisco and Edwin Encarnacion homered for the Blue Jays, who had won a franchise-record six straight in Texas, including a four-game sweep in their only visit last year.

"Great teams find a way to sweep series," Dickey said. "We're definitely going in the right direction, but there's more there that we need to do. Today was a game we probably should have won."

The Rangers were in position to add to the lead Moreland gave them in the seventh when Toronto manager John Gibbons got the Blue Jays out of the jam with a challenge after three previous visits with umpires ended without a video review.

Michael Choice lined out to Francisco, who tagged third base with his glove as Robinson Chirinos was diving back to the bag. Dale Scott called Chirinos safe, but a review lasting nearly 3 minutes overturned it and gave Toronto an inning-ending double play.

Gibbons' move ended up not mattering much when Shin-Soo Choo and Adrian Beltre had run-scoring hits in the eighth.

Moreland hit his second homer of the season after Rios just beat Francisco's throw for an error on one of the plays Gibbons considered challenging. Toronto had a season-high four errors.

Texas rookie right-hander Nick Martinez left with a 2-1 lead after five innings but lost the chance for his first big league win on Encarnacion's ninth homer, a shot to left field off Aaron Poreda in the sixth.

Poreda (2-0) ended up getting the win after a scoreless seventh, and closer Joakim Soria pitched a shaky but scoreless ninth in a non-save situation on his 30th birthday.

Francisco's home run into the upper deck in right field was among four hits allowed by Martinez in a solid outing that should give him a chance to stay in the rotation with four Texas starters on the disabled list. He had never pitched above Double-A before this year.

"Each time he takes the ball it's an experience for him," Washington said. "He knew where we were today and he did a good job just getting us through as many pitches as he could handle."

Dickey allowed three hits and four runs in falling to 12-12 against the team that drafted him and gave him his first shot in the majors 13 years ago.

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Jays' Drew Hutchison outduels Darvish in shutout win

Toronto right-hander Drew Hutchison knows how to hang tough and make in-game adjustments. Friday night he reaped the benefits in a matchup with Texas' Yu Darvish.

Hutchison, back in the majors this spring after having Tommy John surgery late in his rookie season in 2012, outdueled the Rangers' ace Friday night, throwing a three-hit shutout for his first career complete game in the Blue Jays' 2-0 victory in Texas.

"I was grinding a little bit," said Hutchison, 23, who made 11 starts as a rookie and 10 appearances late last season in the minors. "I had good command, but my secondary stuff took me a little bit to get to. I was able to make that adjustment and make better pitches with the changeup and slider."

'I've been watching him pitch from the first day of spring training. When he's on, he can be as tough as anybody.'- Blue Jays manager John Gibbons on Drew Hutchison

Melky Cabrera broke up a scoreless game with a two-run double in the eighth inning to give Hutchison (2-3) all the support that he needed. He struck out six in earning his first victory since April 1.

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons wasn't surprised by Hutchison's performance.

"I've been watching him pitch from the first day of spring training," Gibbons said. "When he's on, he can be as tough as anybody."

Cabrera's liner sailed just beyond the outstretched glove of Texas first baseman Mitch Moreland, scoring Erik Kratz and Anthony Gose.

Kratz and Gose each reached against Darvish (3-2) on infield bunts. The right-handed hitting Kratz bunted to third and beat an off-balance throw by Adrian Beltre. Gose, a left-handed hitter, drag bunted up the first-base line. Moreland's throw to second baseman Rougned Odor covering first base wasn't in time.

Kratz and Gose were in the lineup replacing Dioner Navarro and Colby Rasmus. Navarro is on the bereavement/family medical emergency list and Rasmus is on the disabled list.

Kratz said it was his decision to open the inning with a bunt.

"We'd been talking the whole game about getting something going," Kratz said. "It was just an idea that worked."

Darvish said through an interpreter that he was surprised by the first bunt but not by the second. He went eight innings, allowing two runs on five hits.

Darvish struck out 11 and walked three in his first start since throwing a one-hitter against Boston last Friday that Major League Baseball on Wednesday ruled was a two-hitter.

Neither team got a runner beyond first base until the sixth inning, thanks in part to a successful Toronto challenge in the third inning that reversed a safe call on a steal of second base by Leonys Martin. In the bottom of the sixth, Martin walked, was bunted to second, advanced to third on a sacrifice fly. He was stranded when Elvis Andrus grounded to shortstop.

Darvish was working on six days' rest because of a shuffling of the Rangers' starting rotation when Martin Perez experienced elbow pain in his start Saturday.

The first hit off Darvish came in the fifth inning, a leadoff single pulled to right field by Adam Lind.

The Rangers have lost three straight and five out of six to fall six games behind first-place Oakland in the American League West. Texas' typically potent attack went into the game ranked 10th in the league in slugging percentage and 11th in runs. And, in the past week, the Rangers have lost left-handed starters Perez and Matt Harrison to what appear to be season-ending injuries.

"It's in the back of our heads; it's sad to see what's happening to our pitching staff," Rangers right fielder Alex Rios said. "This is an offence capable of doing a lot of damage. We haven't quite gotten there yet."

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Jose Bautista homers as Blue Jays win 3rd straight game

The Toronto Blue Jays lead the major leagues in extra-base hits and they used an effective combination of those to beat the Texas Rangers 4-2 on Saturday night and put themselves in position to move into first place in the American League East.

Eighth-inning doubles by Kevin Pillar and Jose Reyes produced the go-ahead run. Doubles by Anthony Gose and Brett Lawrie also played roles in runs. Jose Bautista opened the scoring with a first-inning home run.

Toronto has won four straight and 10 of its last 14 to move within a half-game of Baltimore and the Yankees for first-place in the AL East.

"We've got a quality team," said Bautista, who had two hits and reached base in all five plate appearances. "When we execute like we have the last couple of games, we do well.

"We have a lot of guys who have been around and have had success. We have to keep coming out and executing."

Right-hander Steve Delabar (3-0) retired four straight, including striking out the side in the eighth, to earn the victory.

The save by right-hander Casey Janssen was his third of the season and 19th straight in save situations going back to last year.

Bautista's homer was his 179th with Toronto, tying him with Jesse Barfield for fifth place in club history.

The Blue Jays broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh when Gose, a speedster called up Thursday from Triple-A Buffalo when Colby Rasmus went on the disabled list, led off by legging out a double to left, stole third and scored on Melky Cabrera's chopper to third.

"He wants to be here, and he's showing he belongs," Jays manager John Gibbons said of Gose. "Guys who do what he does constantly put pressure on the opponent."

Jays starter Mark Buehrle was denied his major league-leading eighth victory. He allowed two runs over 6 2-3 innings. His ERA rose to 2.11 and his road ERA went up to 1.00.

Buehrle had six assists, many of which had teammates telling him he threw harder to first base.

"I don't know if I say in my mind I know I've got to kind of let it loose," Buehrle said.

Pillar hit a cue shot down the right-field line off left-handed reliever Neal Cotts (1-3). Reyes' two-out dunker into right off Cotts scored Pillar.

Texas has lost four straight and six of its last seven to fall seven games behind first-place Oakland in the AL West.

Michael Choice's third-inning RBI single to left tied the score and ended Texas' scoreless streak at 15 innings.

"I've been through struggles as a player, as a coach and as a manager," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "I have to lead and come out positive every day."

Texas starter Robbie Ross lasted only 4 1-3 innings. In the Rangers' last 18 games, they have gotten three quality starts — all from Yu Darvish.

Rangers first baseman Prince Fielder sat out with a herniated disk in his neck, ending his consecutive games streak at 547. Fielder received a nerve-root injection on Saturday morning to alleviate pain that he has felt since last season and, according to Texas general manager Jon Daniels, causing weakness in his left arm. The Rangers hope Fielder can return to the lineup on Tuesday.

One of the 13 Rangers currently on the disabled list, left-hander Martin Perez, confirmed before the game that he will undergo Tommy John surgery on Monday.

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Marlins ace Jose Fernandez has Tommy John surgery

An attorney for Miami Marlins ace Jose Fernandez said a sharp grounder that struck the right-hander in the thigh before his final start caused him to change his throwing motion and may have contributed to him needing season-ending elbow surgery.

Tampa-based attorney Ralph Fernandez explained the timeline for the pitcher's injury in a lengthy statement to Miami media on Friday.

He said the reigning National League rookie of the year had to alter his delivery after getting hit on the back of the left leg by a sharp grounder off the bat of Dee Gordon in the Marlins' 5-4 win over Los Angeles on May 4 in Miami.

Fernandez pitched five innings at San Diego on May 9 in his last start before the Marlins announced he would need Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery, which he had Friday in Los Angeles.

"Jose did not have a pre-existing condition," Ralph Fernandez wrote in a statement. "While pitching during the recent Dodgers game in Miami he was struck by a ball on his rear thigh. This prompted a completely unanticipated change in delivery which neither the staff nor his coaches could discern.

"After the game we spoke as we always do. Jose was concerned about his arm. Despite many exchanges on the subject in the days that followed he felt that with the Marlins regaining first place in the division he could not let his team down. Apparently the injury was worse than he believed. In San Diego in the third ending he suffered a traumatic event, tossed a couple of more innings and the rest is history."

Marlins manager Mike Redmond said before the Marlins played the San Francisco Giants on Friday night that nobody on the team knew of Fernandez's injury until his start in San Diego.

"I just think if it was bothering him, then he should have said something and we would've obviously shut him down and taken those precautions," Redmond said. "As soon as we found out that he had a sore arm, we shut him down and got an MRI and got everything looked at and got the information that we needed."

Redmond also refuted that Fernandez changed his delivery after getting hit in the thigh against the Dodgers.

"He looked the same to me in that game after that," Redmond said.

Marlins president Michael Hill said in a statement that Fernandez's surgery went well. He said Fernandez would return to Miami and immediately begin his rehabilitation program.

Attorney Ralph Fernandez said in his statement that he, the Marlins, the pitcher and his agent, Scott Boras, all agree that surgery was the proper course of action. Typical recovery time is 12 to 18 months.

The 21-year-old Fernandez was put on the disabled list earlier this week, becoming the latest in a string of major league pitchers this year who have needed Tommy John surgery. Fernandez finished 4-2 with a 2.44 earned-run average in eight starts this season.

Fernandez made 28 starts last year, going 12-6 with a major league-best .182 opponents' batting average. His 2.19 ERA was second in the majors behind three-time defending ERA champ Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers. Fernandez struck out 187 in 172 2-3 innings.

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