Major League Baseball

Jays rout Athletics 10-3 for 10th straight win

Published Aug. 12, 2015 9:58 p.m. ET

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TORONTO (AP) The Toronto Blue Jays surged to the top of the AL East with their 10th straight win, beating the Oakland Athletics 10-3 on Wednesday night behind a pair of three-run homers from Chris Colabello and Justin Smoak.

The Blue Jays trailed the Yankees by six games on July 31. But after making several bold trades, they have gone on a streak that included a sweep of New York, losing only once since Troy Tulowitzki joined the team to move a half-game up in the division.

Josh Donaldson had two hits and two RBIs, boosting his major league-leading total to 85.

R.A. Dickey (7-10) won his won his fourth straight decision, allowing three runs and six hits in six innings.

Toronto, which won 11 straight in June, is the first team with two winning streaks of 10 games or more in single season since Atlanta in 2013. The last AL team to do it was Kansas City in 1977.

Colabello gave Toronto an early lead with a drive off the third deck in the first, estimated at 420 feet.

Smoak's blast to center off Felix Doubront was the big blow in an 11-batter, seven-run second inning in which the first nine straight batters reached safely.

It was the major league-leading 11th time this season Toronto has scored six runs or more in a single inning. The Blue Jays also lead baseball with 17 games in which they've scored 10 or more.

The Blue Jays have homered in 11 consecutive games and 23 of 24 since the All-Star break. They've hit multiple homers in 14 of those 23.

Toronto starters have not allowed more than three earned runs in 16 straight games, two shy of the club record set in 1991.

Right-hander Aaron Brooks (1-1) had allowed just two earned runs in his previous two starts with the Athletics, but was hit hard by the Blue Jays for the second time in his career. Brooks allowed seven runs and didn't get out of the opening inning in his first big league start while pitching for Kansas City in 2014. This time, he gave up a career-worst eight runs on six hits in 1 2-3 innings and saw his ERA rise from 2.41 to 5.75.

Former Blue Jays infielder Danny Valencia hit a solo homer, his third in six games since joining Oakland.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Athletics: SS Marcus Semien was held out of the starting lineup to get a break from the turf and keep him from facing Dickey's knuckleball. OF Coco Crisp also got the night off.

Blue Jays: 1B Edwin Encarnacion (left middle finger) sat out his third straight game but hopes to return Thursday.

UP NEXT

Athletics: RHP Sonny Gray (12-4, 2.06 ERA) will test his AL-leading ERA against the highest-scoring offense in the majors when he faces the Blue Jays. Gray is 8-1 with a 1.64 ERA in 12 road starts.

Blue Jays: LHP Mark Buehrle (12-5, 3.34 ERA) will have had six days of rest when he faces Oakland on Thursday afternoon. Manager John Gibbons pushed Buehrle back an extra day following Monday's off day because the veteran was ''a little beat up'' after his previous start.

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