Major League Baseball

Arencibia, Blue Jays hammer Mets

Published May. 18, 2012 1:00 a.m. ET

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Last week, J.P. Arencibia was lashing out at his manager after being lifted for a pinch-hitter. This week, he's lashing out at opposing pitchers instead.

Arencibia and Rajai Davis each hit two home runs, Yan Gomes hit his first career homer and the Toronto Blue Jays routed the New York Mets 14-5 Friday night.

Arencibia went 3 for 5 with a career-high six RBIs, adding a two-run single in the sixth, as the Blue Jays won their third straight. Toronto's catcher has homered in three straight games for the first time.

''I'm a guy that drives in runs,'' Arencibia said. ''To drive in six and get that cushion for your pitcher out there is big.''

Arencibia was upset when manager John Farrell lifted him for pinch hitter Omar Vizquel in the ninth inning of a loss at Oakland on May 8. He's gone 10 for 32 with five homers and 11 RBIs in seven games since.

''I'm not here to prove anybody wrong or prove any critics wrong,'' Arencibia said. ''My job is to control what I can control and that's going out there and trying to help the team win every day.''

Ricky Romero (5-1) was the beneficiary of Toronto's power surge, winning for the first time in three starts. The left-hander allowed one run and three hits in six innings. He walked four and struck out six.

Four relievers handled the last three innings for the Blue Jays.

Trailing by nine runs, the Mets gave their weary bullpen a break by turning to catcher Rob Johnson to work the eighth inning. Johnson produced New York's only three-up, three down inning of the night, striking out Eric Thames to end it.

''He went out there and threw it over,'' New York manager Terry Collins said.

Todd Zeile was the previous Mets position player to take the mound, doing so July 26, 2004 at Montreal.

Scott Hairston hit a three-run homer for New York, which has lost four of five.

Arencibia's three-run home run in the first off Jon Niese (2-2) brought the left-hander's modest nine-inning scoreless streak to an end.

Daniel Murphy walked and scored on Johnson's RBI groundout in the second but Toronto answered when Gomes, promoted from Triple-A Thursday, opened the bottom half with a homer to left-center.

The Blue Jays tacked on a fifth run when Kelly Johnson walked, stole second and scored on a two-out single by Jose Bautista.

Toronto chased Niese with a two-homer third. Arencibia led off with a shot to center, his seventh, giving him his first multihomer game this season and the fourth of his career. The light-hitting Davis piled on with a two-run drive that bounced off the top of the wall and into the left field bullpen.

Davis widened Toronto's lead with a no-doubt drive to left off Manny Acosta in the fifth, his first career multihomer game.

The Blue Jays weren't done, adding four more in the sixth. Arencibia greeted reliever Ramon Ramirez with a two-run single, Thames singled home a run and Gomes capped it with a sacrifice fly.

''When you don't pitch in a game like this, it gets ugly,'' Collins said.

NOTES: New York's Ike Davis, who is stuck in a 1 for 19 slump, was held out of the starting lineup. ... Wright's double in the first was his 1,300th career hit, tying him with Jose Reyes for second on New York's all-time list. ... Mets OF Jason Bay (fractured rib) ran and threw in the outfield before the game but is not expected to resume full batting practice until next week. ... Davis had not homered since June 1, 2011, against Cleveland. ... Mets LHP Robert Carson made his major league debut, pitching one scoreless inning. ... New York minor league 2B Daniel Muno has been suspended 50 games by MLB after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

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