Blue Jays 9, Brewers 5

[August 21, 2014]  Blue Jays 9, Brewers 5: Jose Bautista belted a three-run homer to cap a five-run outburst in the sixth inning as Toronto completed a 2-6 road trip by salvaging a two-game split in Milwaukee and ending the Brewers’ five-game winning streak.

Jose Reyes had three hits – his fifth game in August with at least that many – and Bautista was one of five other players with multiple hits for the Blue Jays, who remained 4 1/2 games out of the second wild-card spot in the American League. R.A. Dickey (10-12) entered the contest tied for the league lead with nine road losses, but managed to snap a three-start winless streak despite yielding five runs on eight hits over 5 2/3 innings.

Carlos Gomez clubbed his third homer in four games, but it was not enough as Milwaukee saw its lead in the National League Central drop to 1 1/2 games over St. Louis. Rookie Jimmy Nelson (2-4) was unable to record his sixth consecutive quality start and lost for the fourth time in his last five decisions, giving up four runs on nine hits in 5 2/3 frames.

After tallying a season-high seven doubles in its series-opening win, Milwaukee used two more on Wednesday to jump out to a two-run advantage after Jean Segura plated a run in the second and Mark Reynolds followed suit in the fourth. Toronto answered with a two-run fifth on an RBI ground-rule double by Melky Cabrera, who scored moments later on Edwin Encarnacion’s single up the middle.

The Brewers reclaimed the lead in the bottom half, but the Blue Jays tied it in the sixth with back-to-back one-out doubles and pulled ahead on Reyes’ run-scoring single before Bautista capped the rally with a line drive into the Milwaukee bullpen in left off Brandon Kintzler. Gomez cut the 7-3 deficit in half with a two-run blast in the bottom half, but Colby Rasmus countered with one of his own to restore the four-run lead in the ninth.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Toronto, which entered the contest with a league-worst run total (47) and record (4-12) in August, posted its best offensive output in 20 games since defeating Boston 14-1 on July 28. … Including Dickey, the last six pitchers Nelson has opposed have combined for six Cy Young Awards and five of baseball’s last seven no-hitters. … Bautista has reached base safely in 27 consecutive contests and 111 of his 120 starts this season.

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