Three homers not enough in Bedard's rocky outing

TORONTO -- The good news for the Rays Monday night came in the form of solid hitting and the fact that the team's bats have come to life the past five games. The bad news was that the Blue Jays' offense continued to be one of the hottest in baseball.

Since their win over Oakland on Thursday, the Rays are averaging 10 hits a game, and they've put up 25 runs over that span. They continued to generate offense Monday, hitting three homers and putting runs on the board. But they were no match for Blue Jays' surging offense, which generated 16 hits and three homers in a 10-5 defeat of the Rays at Rogers Centre.

"They kept adding on, and they have such a good lineup, when the bottom contributes like it did, it makes it even more difficult," said Rays manager Joe Maddon. "You're gonna give some up to the middle [of the order], but when it's all nine that contribute, it becomes a lot more serious."

Nos. 6 and 7 hitters Dioner Navarro and Steve Tolleson had back-to-back homers in the fourth, and Edwin Encarnacion had a solo shot in the fifth, as Toronto snapped the Rays' four-game winning streak and extended its own to seven games.

The Rays' offense clawed its way back into the game after the Blue Jays scored two in the first, and then again after Toronto's fourth-inning outburst. That made the loss especially hard on Tampa Bay starter Erik Bedard, who pitched four-plus innings and allowed 13 hits, eight earned runs and two homers.

"Yeah, that's always the frustrating part, when the team scores some runs for you and you can't limit the damage, I guess," said Bedard, whose record fell to 2-3 with the loss.

The Blue Jays made the 35-year-old lefty's Canadian homecoming a tough one, resulting in an uncharacteristic outing for the Orleans, Ontario, native, who had pitched 49 1/3 innings without allowing a homer until his last start against Oakland.

The freshly recalled Alex Colome relieved Bedard in the fourth, and threw four innings, allowing three hits and two earned runs with three walks.

Maddon said following the game that Colome would be optioned to Triple-A Durham, and that a corresponding roster move would be announced Tuesday. It is expected the team will bring up a position player.

"He did a great job, and he really did help us get back in order for tomorrow," said Maddon.

Blue Jays starter Drew Hutchison struggled on the mound as well, but improved to 4-3 after being bailed out by the bats.

"Just one of those nights, I guess you could say," said Hutchison, who went five innings and gave up five earned runs on seven hits, including three homers. "Nothing was very good about that, except the offense and the bullpen behind me did a great job. [Blue Jays hitters are] on a roll right now, so I was lucky enough to have that."

The Rays have now hit five home runs in their last two games, after hitting only two in their previous seven contests.

Playing from behind after the Blue Jays put up a two-run first inning, David DeJesus hit his fifth homer of the season to cut the Blue Jays' lead to one run in the third, before James Loney brought Evan Longoria home on a sac fly to tie the game.

The Blue Jays regained their lead with the homers from Navarro and Tolleson. Kevin Pillar would score on a Cabrera single, as Toronto headed into the fifth with a three-run lead.

But once again, Tampa Bay hit their way back into it, thanks to back-to-back homers from Loney and Desmond Jennings.

Toronto blew the game open in the fourth, though, putting up four runs as they knocked Bedard from the game.

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said it's refreshing to have offensive contributions from his entire batting order.

"You look at the way the team started the season, it's basically a team of sluggers. That's what we've been trying to address," he said. "We're better hitters than just grip it and rip it. We can take our hits the other way, so that has been a focus. But the other guys, they kind of add to that, that's part of their game and guys feed off it, too," he said.

Rays catcher Ryan Hanigan was removed from the game as a precaution in the sixth inning.

"He did feel his [hamstring] there a little, so we wanted to get him out," said Maddon.