TORONTO -- The Blue Jays belted three homers and Mark Buehrle picked up his major-league leading ninth win as Toronto extended its winning streak to eight games Tuesday with a 9-6 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
Adam Lind, Edwin Encarnacion and Juan Francisco homered for the American League East-leading Blue Jays, who had 13 hits on the night. Buehrle (9-1) allowed eight hits and three earned runs over 6 2/3 innings.
Lind and Encarnacion hit back-to-back shots in Toronto's four-run fifth inning. Lind hit a two-run blast and Encarnacion followed with his 16th homer of the season, giving him a share of the major-league lead with Baltimore's Nelson Cruz.
Encarnacion also tied Jose Bautista's club record of 14 homers in a month, set back in June 2012.
Francisco added a solo shot in the seventh inning and Casey Janssen worked the ninth for his eighth save as Tampa Bay (23-30) lost its second straight game. Toronto (31-22) will go for the sweep of the three-game series on Wednesday night.
Both Buehrle and Tampa Bay starter Alex Cobb (1-2) were quick and efficient over the first three innings.
The Rays opened the scoring in the fourth when Sean Rodriguez hit a flare that dropped in to shallow left field, allowing Evan Longoria to score from second base. Logan Forsythe made it a two-run game when he scored from third on a Wil Myers groundout.
The Blue Jays pulled even in the bottom half of the frame.
Lind hit a one-out single and Encarnacion walked. After Francisco lined out, Brett Lawrie of Langley, B.C., drove in Lind with a single and Dioner Navarro brought home Encarnacion with another single.
Lawrie and Navarro each moved up a base on a wild pitch before Cobb struck out Anthony Gose to end the inning.
Jose Reyes reached on an infield single in the fifth inning after lashing a comebacker that hit Cobb on his right side near the waist. Cobb stayed in the game but struggled through the rest of the frame, giving up an RBI single to Jose Bautista before the back-to-back homers.
It was Lind's third blast of the season. Encarnacion's homer was a monster shot that landed in the box seats above the second deck, just inside the left-field pole at Rogers Centre.
A Reyes throwing error in the sixth inning led to an unearned run for the Rays. The Toronto shortstop's wide throw pulled Lind off the bag at first base, allowing Forsythe to reach.
Desmond Jennings moved Forsythe to third with a double and he scored when Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly.
Left-hander Cesar Ramos relieved Cobb in the sixth. He walked Reyes, who stole second and scored on a Melky Cabrera single.
Bautista was intentionally walked to get to Lind, who reached on an infield single to load the bases for Encarnacion. Right-hander Brad Boxberger came on and gave up a balk to allow Cabrera to score before getting a strikeout to end the inning.
Buehrle, who received a standing ovation after he was pulled, walked a batter and struck out three.
Cobb allowed nine hits, six earned runs and a walk over five innings while striking out seven. His earned-run average jumped from 1.40 to 2.93.
Announced attendance was 15,993 and the game took three hours to play.
Notes: It was the fourth time this season that the Blue Jays have hit back-to-back home runs. ... The Blue Jays have won 13 of their last 15 games and 18 of their last 23. Toronto's longest winning streak before this was an 11-gamer last June. ... Blue Jays manager John Gibbons challenged a call in the third inning when first-base umpire ruled that Yunel Escobar was safe. After a review of just 40 seconds, the call was overturned and Escobar was ruled out on a 4-6-3 double play. ... Navarro showed his mettle in the third inning. He was struck on his catching hand by Jose Molina's bat on an awkward follow-through and then took a foul tip to his right arm later in the at-bat. ... Liam Hendriks (1-0) is scheduled to start the series finale against Tampa Bay's Chris Archer (3-2). ... The Blue Jays will complete the 10-game homestand later this week with a four-game series against the Kansas City Royals.
