Blue Jays demolish Reds

TORONTO — Credit Cincinnati Reds manager Bryan Price for having a sense of humour after his team was on the receiving end of a 17-2 pasting from the Toronto Blue Jays.

“It could have been worse,” Price said. “Their third-base coach was compassionate enough to not keep wheeling guys in to score.”

Toronto scored early and often in the opener of the threegame interleague series Monday night at Rogers Centre. Russell Martin hit a two-run homer in the second inning off starter Lasalverto Bonilla, Troy Tulowitzki belted a grand slam in the third and Justin Smoak tacked on a three-run shot in the fourth.

When it was all over, the Blue Jays (24-27) nearly doubled their season high for runs scored and finished with 23 hits, good for the third-most in franchise history.

Devon Travis and Ezequiel Carrera had four hits apiece and Kendrys Morales scored four runs as Toronto won for the sixth time in seven games.

“Those games are very rare at the big-league level,” said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. “So enjoy it when you get them.”

The Reds opened the scoring with a run in the first inning and Adam Duvall hit a solo shot in the sixth inning off Blue Jays starter Marcus Stroman, who picked up his team-leading sixth win of the year.

But this game was essentially over by the midway point.

Tulowitzki’s second homer of the season — and fourth grand slam of his career — put a charge in the Rogers Centre crowd of 29,844. Smoak turned it into a laugher with his 12th homer of the campaign.

“I got a good pitch to hit, put a good swing [on it] and kind of broke the game open,” Tulowitzki said.

The final scoreline could have been even more inflated as the Blue Jays left 13 men on base. Toronto improved to 3-1 on its 10-game homestand.

“I’m not surprised by any means,” Stroman said. “I know what this team is capable of.” DENVER — Sam Gaviglio’s experience in the minor leagues helped him get his first win in the majors.

Gaviglio pitched into the sixth inning to get his first career victory, and the Seattle Mariners used six relievers to beat the Colorado Rockies 6-5 on Monday.

He was making his third start and fourth appearance after beginning the year with triple-A Tacoma in the Pacific Coast League. His time there helped him in the thin air at Colorado.

“It’s like pitching in a PCL game,” he said. “A lot of highaltitude parks.”

Danny Valencia had three hits and Kyle Seager had a key double to help Gaviglio (1-1) get the milestone. The rookie allowed five runs on six hits and left after two singles to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning.

Both runners scored, but the bullpen blanked the hot-hitting Rockies from there.