TORONTO - J.P Arencibia and Rajai Davis each hit two home runs to lead Toronto's power surge Friday as the Blue Jays demolished the New York Mets 14-5 to open their 2012 interleague schedule.
Yan Gomes, with the first of his career, also went deep and Jays ace Ricky Romero bounced back from his first loss of the season with a strong outing over six innings as Toronto won its third straight.
Arencibia blasted a three-run shot in the bottom of the first and added a solo homer in third to give him seven on the season. The Jays catcher finished the night 3-for-5 with a career-high six RBIs.
Davis hit two-run homers in the third and fifth innings for his first long balls of the season. It was also the first multi-home run game of his career.
The Jays (22-17) got to Mets starter Jon Niese early and often. After Kelly Johnson walked and Yunel Escobar singled to right in the bottom of the first, Niese stuck out Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion. But Arencibia stepped up and lined a 2-0 fastball to left for a 3-0 lead.
New York (21-18) got one run back in the second but Gomes, making his second start since being called up from triple-A Las Vegas, lined the first pitch from Niese in the bottom of the inning into the first row in left-centre for the first home run of his career.
The 24-year-old Brazilian clapped his hands together as he touched home plate to give Toronto a 4-1 lead. Later in the inning, Johnson walked, stole second and scored on a Bautista single to left.
Arencibia led off the third with a home run to centre field before Davis added his first of the season with Eric Thames aboard on a ball that bounced off the top of the left-field fence and over to make it 8-1.
Niese completed the inning but didn't come out for the fourth, giving up eight runs on eight hits while striking out six and walking four.
Davis added his second homer of the night to left off Mets reliever Manny Acosta with Gomes aboard in the bottom of the fifth to stretch Toronto's lead to 10-1.
Arencibia came up with the bases loaded against New York's Ramon Ramirez in the sixth and delivered an RBI single to centre that scored Escobar and Bautista. Thames then joined the party with an RBI single that scored Encarnacion, and Gomes added a sacrifice fly to score Arencibia and make it 14-1.
Romero, who gave up one earned run on three hits while striking out six and walking four, had some command issues at times. A leadoff walk to Daniel Murphy and a double by Scott Hairston in the second put runners at second and third with none out.
After Romero induced a popout by Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Murphy scored on a Rob Johnson groundout to cut Toronto's lead to 3-1.
Romero, who issued leadoff walks in three of his six innings of work, also got out a jam with runners at first and second in the fourth, getting Rob Johnson to hit into a forceout at third.
The Toronto left-hander had walked five batters in each of his last two outings, including Sunday's 4-1 loss Minnesota.
Carlos Villaneuva pitched a scoreless seventh for the Jays, but Evan Crawford got into trouble in the eighth before leaving with an undisclosed injury. Luis Perez gave up one run on a bases loaded fielder's choice to Murphy and Hairston belted a three-run shot to right to cut the Toronto lead to 14-5.
Rob Johnson, who started at catcher for the Mets, pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning for New York.
Notes: Mets third baseman David Wright, who was replaced in the field in the sixth inning, went 1-for-3 to see his major-league batting average dip two points to .409. ... Arencibia has three home runs in his last two games. ... Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie sat out the second game of his four-game suspension for throwing his batting helmet that bounced up and hit umpire Bill Miller on Wednesday night. Lawrie initially appealed the ban, but began serving the suspension on Thursday night, a 4-1 Toronto victory over the New York Yankees. ... The Blue Jays improved to 124-142 all-time in interleague play, while the Mets dropped to 127-121 against American League opponents. ... New York still hold a 14-5 advantage over Toronto in interleague play. ... Former Jays relievers Frank Francisco and Jon Rauch returned to Rogers Centre. The pair signed with the Mets as free agents in the off-season. ... Attendance was 26,712.
