TORONTO (AP) — Kendrys Morales hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning, Josh Donaldson added an upper deck drive and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Cincinnati Reds 6-4 on Tuesday night.
All six Toronto runs came on homers. Jose Bautista and Russell Martin also connected for the Blue Jays, who have hit 47 homers in May.
Cincinnati’s Zack Cozart hit two solo home runs and Joey Votto had a third.
Morales broke a 4-all tie with a two-run blast off Blake Wood (0-3), his 10th.
Joe Smith (1-0) worked one inning for the win and Roberto Osuna finished for his 10th save.
Donaldson, Bautista and Martin all connected off right-hander Asher Wojciechowski in the fourth. It was Toronto’s first three-homer inning since July 29, 2016, against Baltimore.
Activated off the disabled list before the game after being out since April 16 because of a sore elbow, Blue Jays left-hander J.A. Happ allowed two runs in four innings.
Two of the three hits off Happ were homers on consecutive pitches by Cozart and Votto in the first. It was the first time this season Cincinnati had gone back-to-back.
Happ allowed back-to-back homers in the first inning for the second time in his career. He’s given up two homers in the first inning five times.
Donaldson and Bautista went back-to-back in the fourth and Martin added a two-out drive.
Cozart cut it to 4-3 with his second of the night off Danny Barnes in the fifth. It was Cozart’s first multihomer game of the season and the third of his career.
Billy Hamilton tied it with an RBI single off Ryan Tepera in the seventh but was thrown out trying to steal third base for the first out of the inning. Ezequiel Carrera made a diving catch on Adam Duvall’s liner, and Tepera fanned Eugenio Suarez to strand runners at first and second.
Wojciechowski, Cincinnati’s fifth rookie starting pitcher of the season, allowed four runs and four hits in four innings. It was the first start of the season for Wojciechowski, who was drafted by Toronto in 2010.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Reds: Cincinnati optioned RHP Robert Stephenson to Triple-A Louisville and recalled RHP Jackson Stephens from Triple-A. Stephenson is expected to start at Louisville.
Blue Jays: LHP Francisco Liriano (shoulder) will come off there DL to start Friday against the Yankees, manager John Gibbons said, giving RHP Joe Biagni (Saturday) and RHP Marcus Stroman (Sunday) an extra day of rest. … OF Dalton Pompey (concussion) made his first rehab start at Class-A Dunedin. He went 3 for 4 with a walk and three RBIs. … RHP Dominic Leone was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo to make room for Happ. … RHP Mat Latos was released from Triple-A.
UP NEXT
Reds: RHP Tim Adelman (3-2, 4.95) pitched eight shutout innings against Philadelphia in his previous start, giving up his only hit in the first and retiring 21 of the final 23 batters he faced.
Blue Jays: RHP Mike Bolsinger (0-2, 5.75) has walked four or more batters in three of his four starts, and has yet to complete six innings.