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Gonzalez hits 2 homers, Blue Jays beat Athletics

May 1, 2010 - 3:08 AM TORONTO(AP) -- Vernon Wells has an unlikely rival for the title of Toronto's top slugger: shortstop Alex Gonzalez.

Gonzalez hit two home runs and Wells also connected, leading Brandon Morrow and the Blue Jays over the Oakland Athletics 10-2 Friday night.

"Right now I feel great at the plate," Gonzalez said. "I'm swinging at good pitches, getting good swings and I hope to keep doing well."

Gonzalez hit a three-run homer in the second inning and led off the sixth with a drive down the left-field line. It was the eighth multihomer game of his career.

Gonzalez hit seven home runs this month, a team record for a shortstop in April. Marco Scutaro hit five last April.

"I just look at him and shake my head," Wells said of Gonzalez. "He tells me to look out because he's right behind me. It's been fun to watch."

Wells hit his eighth home run, the 200th of his career, and a pair of singles. Toronto, which came in with an AL-leading 32 homers and 96 extra-base hits, sent the A's to their sixth straight road loss.

"It will be difficult to keep this pace up," Wells said. "We're going to have to start scoring some runs in different ways."

Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston presented Wells with his milestone home run ball after the game. The homer gave Wells 741 RBIs, moving him past George Bell for second on Toronto's all-time list. Carlos Delgado leads with 1,058.

"I've been around for a long time and had a lot of opportunities," Wells said. "It's going to come if I'm able stay healthy and be successful and that's the goal right now."

Morrow (2-2) struck out nine and allowed two runs in six innings. The right-hander retired 12 of his final 13 batters.

"He was good," Gaston said. "I just see him getting a little better. (Pitching coach Bruce Walton) has dropped his arm slot a little bit and he's been a better pitcher."

John Buck, who hit three homers in Toronto's win Thursday night, had two hits, including a two-run single. He was hit by a pitch in his final plate appearance.

Kevin Kouzmanoff's RBI single gave Oakland a 1-0 lead in the first. Toronto took the lead in the second when Gonzalez homered off Trevor Cahill (0-1).

Oakland cut it to 3-2 on Cliff Pennington's RBI grounder in the fourth, but the Blue Jays pushed their lead to 5-2 in the bottom half on Buck's single.

Wells followed Adam Lind's single with a two-run shot off Cahill in the fifth, and Toronto piled on three more in the sixth.

Cahill left after Gonzalez's homer and was replaced by Chad Gaudin. Buck hit a one-out single, Travis Snider doubled and Aaron Hill hit a ground-rule double.

Cahill made his first start of the season after being called up to pitch in place of Brett Anderson, who has an ailing left elbow. Cahill, who allowed eight runs and seven hits in five-plus innings, said two of the three home runs he allowed were on sliders, a pitch he turned to after struggling to command his sinker.

"The sinker wasn't really working so (catcher Landon Powell) was trying to find a pitch that was," Cahill said. "I just couldn't really find my sinker again so I was kind of working without my best pitch."

NOTES: Oakland infielder Steve Tolleson singled in the ninth for his first major league hit. C Josh Donaldson made his major league debut as a pinch-hitter in the eighth and struck out swinging. ... Toronto 3B Edwin Encarnacion (shoulder) has played as a DH at extended spring training, and could play the field as early as Monday, Gaston said. ... A fan ran onto the field at the end of the sixth and made it to second base before he was detained by security.