Five Alive: Blue Jays extend winning streak with 12-6 victory over Phillies

TORONTO – Edwin Encarnacion belted two of Toronto’s five home runs as the Blue Jays overpowered the Philadelphia Phillies 12-6 on Thursday night at Rogers Centre.

The Toronto cleanup hitter blasted his 200th career homer in the second inning and helped turn the game into a rout in the seventh with a two-run shot. Colby Rasmus, Adam Lind and Juan Francisco also went deep as the Blue Jays (18-17) extended their winning streak to five games.

R.A. Dickey (3-3) worked into the seventh inning for the victory. The Blue Jays reached a double-digit run total for the second straight game to complete a mini-sweep of Philadelphia (15-18).

Toronto, which clobbered the Phillies 10-0 a night earlier, outhit Philadelphia 13-10 in front of an announced crowd of 18,158.

The Phillies opened the scoring in the second inning. Marlon Byrd singled, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored easily when Domonic Brown sliced a double off the wall in left field.

The Blue Jays answered in the bottom half of the inning when Encarnacion led off with a no-doubt blast into the second deck off Philadelphia starter A.J. Burnett (2-2).

Francisco followed with a double and moved to third on a wild pitch. He scored when Lind, who was activated earlier in the day after a stint on the disabled list, hit a slow grounder to first base.

Rasmus continued his strong play of late with a rainbow solo shot that just cleared the wall beside the right-field foul pole. He has hit five home runs in May and now has nine on the season.

Jose Reyes opened the bottom of the third with a ground-rule double. After a Melky Cabrera strikeout, Reyes stole third and Jose Bautista brought him home with a sacrifice fly.

Encarnacion then lashed a single up the middle that barely missed Burnett’s head. With the hit-and-run play on, Francisco moved Encarnacion to third with another single, but they were stranded when Lind struck out.

The Phillies threatened in the fourth inning as Dickey battled some control problems. Philadelphia loaded the bases on two walks and a single but Freddy Galvis grounded out to keep it a three-run game.

Dickey’s control was an issue again in the fifth inning and it helped Philadelphia cut into the lead.

Tony Gwynn Junior walked to open the frame and moved to second on a wild pitch. He scored on a Jimmy Rollins single.

Byrd nearly tied the game with a shot to deep centre field but the ball hit the top of the wall and stayed in the park. Rollins was held at third base on the play and Brown stranded both runners when he struck out.

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons won a challenge in the fifth inning and it helped Reyes get on base. The Toronto leadoff man felt a Burnett pitch brushed his leg before entering the catcher’s glove.

The umpires reviewed the play and agreed he was hit by the pitch. The speedy Reyes stole second, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on a Bautista groundout.

Lind added some insurance runs in the sixth inning with a two-run shot. It was his second homer of the season.

Dickey was pulled after giving up a one-out double to Rollins in the seventh. Left-hander Aaron Loup relieved the Toronto starter and gave up an RBI triple to Chase Utley. Reliever Marcus Stroman came in later in the frame to get Byrd on a grounder for the third out.

The Blue Jays attacked reliever Luis Garcia in the seventh.

Bautista singled and scored on Encarnacion’s second homer of the game and sixth of the season. Francisco took the next pitch deep for his fifth homer of the year.

Toronto padded its lead with two more runs in the eighth when Cabrera drove home Reyes and Steve Tolleson with a triple to the gap in right-centre field. Ryan Howard hit a two-run homer off Esmil Rogers in Philadelphia’s three-run ninth.

Dickey allowed seven hits and three earned runs over 6 1-3 innings pitched. He walked three batters and had a season-high eight strikeouts.

Burnett, a former Blue Jay, gave up nine hits, seven earned runs and two walks over six innings with four strikeouts.

Notes: The game took three hours to play. … Olympic curling champion Brad Jacobs was in attendance. … Toronto optioned right-hander Chad Jenkins to triple-A Buffalo before the game. … Bautista has reached base in all 35 games this season. … It was Encarnacion’s 12th career multi-homer game. … Howard has seven homers this season. … The Blue Jays will kick off a four-game series against the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night. Dustin McGowan (2-1) is scheduled to start for Toronto against Garrett Richards (3-0). … It was the 20,000th game in franchise history for the Phillies. The team played its first game on May 1, 1883, dropping a 4-3 decision to the Providence Grays at Recreation Park.

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