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Encarnacion homers, Buehrle gets 9th win as Blue Jays beat Rays

May 28, 2014 - 6:13 AM Toronto, ON (SportsNetwork.com) - Edwin Encarnacion tied a club record for homers in a month, Mark Buehrle picked up his Major League-leading ninth victory of the season and the red-hot Toronto Blue Jays beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 9-6, on Tuesday.

Encarnacion's 14 homers in the month of May is tied with Jose Bautista for the most home runs in a month in franchise history. Bautista had 14 homers in June 2012.

Juan Francisco and Adam Lind also homered for the Blue Jays, who have won eight in a row. Bautista went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.

"Everybody's having fun," Encarnacion said. "You can see it on their faces. We're playing great baseball."

Buehrle (9-1) allowed four runs -- three earned -- on eight hits over 6 2/3 innings. The 35-year-old has won five straight decisions since suffering his only loss of the season on April 25 versus Boston.

Sean Rodriguez went 2-for-3 with three RBI and a run scored for the Rays, who have lost the first two contests of this three-game series. Wil Myers knocked in two runs.

Alex Cobb (1-2), who entered the game with a 21 2/3 scoreless-innings streak, gave up six runs on nine hits with seven strikeouts over five innings.

"He was really good, moving along really nicely and all of a sudden they struck," Rays manager Joe Maddon said of Cobb.

The Rays broke a scoreless tie in the top of the fourth. Evan Longoria and Logan Forsythe hit back-to-back singles to put men on first and second. After Desmond Jennings struck out swinging, Rodriguez hit an RBI double to right. Forsythe crossed the plate when Myers grounded into a fielder's choice.

The Blue Jays responded with two runs of their own in the bottom half. With one out, Lind singled and Encarnacion walked. After Francisco lined out, Brett Lawrie and Dioner Navarro hit consecutive RBI singles. Cobb's scoreless- innings streak was snapped at 24 2/3.

Toronto tacked on four more runs in the fifth. Jose Reyes led off with an infield single, moved to second on Melky Cabrera's groundout and crossed the plate on Bautista's single to center. Lind and Encarnacion followed with back- to-back homers, making it 6-2.

Tampa Bay got one run back in the sixth. Forsythe reached first on Reyes' throwing error, moved to third on Jennings' double to left and scored on Rodriguez's sacrifice fly.

But the Blue Jays scored two runs in the bottom half of the frame. Cesar Ramos gave up an RBI single to Cabrera before loading the bases with two outs. Brad Boxberger took over on the mound and immediately balked in a run. Encarnacion struck out swinging to end the inning.

The Rays cut the gap to 8-4 on Matt Joyce's RBI groundout in the top of the seventh. But Francisco homered off Josh Lueke in the bottom half.

Tampa Bay scored a pair of runs off Steve Delabar in the eighth. Rodriguez's RBI triple and Myers' sacrifice fly cut the gap to 9-6.

Casey Janssen stranded a runner on second in the ninth to pick up his eighth save of the season.

Game Notes

Encarnacion has 16 homers this season ... Tampa Bay optioned pitcher Alex Colome to Triple-A Durham and selected the contract of catcher Ali Solis from the same club. Pitcher Matt Moore was transferred to the 60-day disabled list ... The Blue Jays have homered in 10 straight games ... Reyes extended his hitting streak to 10 games.