TORONTO -- Jose Bautista, Devon Travis and Dalton Pompey homered as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 12-7 on Wednesday night at Rogers Centre for their first home victory of the season.
Josh Donaldson scored twice and drove in three runs as Toronto outhit the Rays 13-11. The Blue Jays gave starter Mark Buehrle plenty of early run support, scoring multiple runs in each of the first five innings for the first time in franchise history.
Buehrle (2-0) allowed seven hits and three earned runs over six innings as Toronto (5-4) ended Tampa Bay's four-game winning streak.
Blue Jays manager John Gibbons moved Donaldson up three positions into the No. 2 spot in the batting order and it paid off. He singled in the first inning -- one of his three hits on the game -- to get on base ahead of Bautista's rainbow homer.
Toronto tacked on three more runs after loading the bases in the second inning against Rays starter Erasmo Ramirez (0-1). Jose Reyes hit a nubber down the third-base line that brought home Justin Smoak and Donaldson followed with a two-run single.
In the third, Kevin Pillar drove in Dioner Navarro with a double before coming home on a Travis double that just missed clearing the wall in right-centre field.
Donaldson reached base again in the fourth when Asdrubal Cabrera mistimed a ground ball at short for an error. Bautista walked and both runners moved into scoring position on a passed ball.
Smoak later hit a two-run single to make it a 9-0 game. Travis added a solo shot in the fifth inning off reliever Jeff Beliveau, Steve Tolleson followed with a walk and Donaldson drove him in with a double.
Buehrle, meanwhile, was his usual steady self, using a variety of pitches while mixing speeds to keep the Rays off-balance. He had two hiccups on the night: a Steven Souza Jr. no-doubt solo shot in the fifth and a two-run blast by Mikie Mahtook an inning later.
Pillar put a buzz into the crowd of 15,086 by robbing Tim Beckham of a home run in the seventh inning. The Toronto left-fielder timed his jump perfectly and got his glove just over the wall to make a stunning highlight-reel catch.
In the bottom half of the frame, Pompey greeted Ernesto Frieri to the game by launching the right-hander's first pitch into the second deck for a solo homer.
Souza Jr. hit a two-run double in the ninth inning off Toronto reliever Todd Redmond. The Rays scored four runs in the frame before southpaw Brett Cecil came on to record the last out.
Tampa Bay (5-4) posted a pair of one-run victories over Toronto earlier this week. The finale of the four-game series goes Thursday night.
It's part of a 10-game homestand for the Blue Jays, who opened the regular season with a 4-2 road trip.
Notes: Bautista, Pompey, Travis and Souza Jr. all have two home runs apiece on the young season. Mahtook's homer was his first big-league hit. ... Ramirez gave up eight hits, seven earned runs and three walks over 3 1/3 innings. He had four strikeouts. ... All players wore No. 42 jerseys for Jackie Robinson Day. ... Canadian women's hockey team forward Caroline Ouellette threw out the first pitch. ... The game took three hours two minutes to play. ... Aaron Sanchez (0-1) will get the start for the Blue Jays on Thursday. The Rays will counter with fellow right-hander Chris Archer (1-1). ... The Atlanta Braves will visit Rogers Centre for a three-game series beginning Friday.
