Six homers power Jays to win
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida — Even in a down year, the Toronto Blue Jays are as capable of going deep as any team in baseball. They showed that off Wednesday night.
Kevin Pillar hit Toronto’s sixth home run of the game in the eighth inning, lifting the Blue Jays over the Tampa Bay Rays 7-6.
“It would have been nice to hit some homers with runners on base, but that’s just the way it happens,” said Steve Pearce, who hit one of three homers in the second inning. “Tonight was just a typical Rays-Jays matchup.”
Pillar snapped a 6-6 tie with a homer off Tommy Hunter (2-5) to help the Blue Jays end a fourgame losing streak. It was Pillar’s 13th homer of the season.
Kevin Keirmaier hit two home runs and scored three times for the Rays, who came back from a 5-0 deficit to the tie it before losing for the ninth time in 12 games.
“Unfortunately, I left a ball up, and that’s the end of it,” said Hunter, who has given up home runs in four of his last six appearances.
Ryan Tepera (7-1) got the win and Roberto Osuna got the final four outs for his 33rd save.
Josh Donaldson’s 22nd home run — and his 13th in 24 games — got the Blue Jays off to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Ryan Goins, Raffy Lopez and Pearce added solo shots off starter Austin Pruitt in the second, putting Toronto up 5-0. Lopez’s homer was the first of his career. Toronto entered Wednesday ranked 13th in the majors with 168 homers after finishing among the top four teams each of the past four seasons.
Keirmaier’s ninth home run came with a man on in the third, and Steven Souza Jr.’s 27th homer cut the lead to 5-3 in the fourth.
After Justin Smoak’s 34th home run stretched it to 6-3 in the fifth.