TORONTO – The Toronto Blue Jays had three solo homers in the first inning and scored three more runs in the third to pick up a 6-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles at Rogers Centre on Friday night.
Jose Bautista led off the game with his 13th of season and first since coming off the disabled list on Monday. Edwin Encarnacion and Troy Tulowitzki also homered in the first as the Jays knocked three out in one inning for the second time this season.
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Marco Estrada (6-4) went six innings and gave up three earned runs in striking out six to register his first win since beating the Philadelphia Phillies on June 15.
Toronto (58-45) is now just a half game back of the Orioles (58-44) for the division lead in the American League East.
Kevin Gausman (2-8) had an adventurous three-inning start. In addition to the three homers surrendered in the first, he also walked three Blue Jays and threw two wild pitches.
Baltimore scored twice in the first inning and then tied the game in the third thanks to some opportunistic base-running from Manny Machado.