Blue Jays offence catches fire in big win

TORONTO — Justin Smoak broke out of a slump with five runs-batted in, Russell Martin also drove in five and Josh Donaldson hit his 30th homer of the season as the Toronto Blue Jays’ offence ignited for a 15-8 win over Minnesota on Friday.

Smoak snapped an 0-for-29 streak with runners in scoring position with a three-run blast in the second inning, then added a runscoring base hit in the third as the Blue Jays (72-56) moved a game ahead of Boston for Major League Baseball’s American League East lead and ended a two-game slide. The first baseman picked up his fifth RBI in the seventh.

Martin homered and added a bases-clearing double, Donaldson had three RBI’s in total, and Darwin Barney, who moved up in the lineup in place of an ill Kevin Pillar, had a double, a single and a solo homer.

Kurt Suzuki had three RBIs for the Twins (4979), Trevor Plouffe and Eddie Rosario each drove in a pair and Max Kepler had a sac fly in the ninth.

Francisco Liriano (7-12), facing the team he spent his first seven seasons with, allowed four runs — three earned — over five innings. He struck out seven and walked four while throwing just 59 of his 102 pitches for strikes. Pat Dean (1-4) lasted just three innings, allowing six runs on eight hits and a walk.

The Blue Jays scored five runs in the second, four in the sixth and five more in the seventh.

Plouffe gave the Twins an early 1-0 lead in the first inning with a two-out solo shot.

Smoak put the Blue Jays on the board with his three-run homer off Dean — his first hit with runners in scoring position since June 18 — in the bottom of the second, and Donaldson added to the barrage with a two-run homer three batters later.

Plouffe hit a sac fly in the third to cut into Toronto’s lead, but Smoak responded with his run-scoring single in the bottom of the frame.

Smoak and Donaldson hit RBI singles in the five-run seventh, Jose Bautista scored on a force out from Edwin Encarnacion, and Martin hit a two-run blast for a 15-5 lead.

Minnesota added two runs in the eighth and one in the ninth.