Athletics 16 Blue Jays 0
TORONTO — Coco Crisp hit two solo home runs and the Oakland Athletics used an eight-run second inning to extend their winning streak to seven games with a 16-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday.
It was the largest shutout loss in Blue Jays history.
There was more bad news for the Blue Jays. Catcher J.P. Arencibia fractured his right hand in the second inning after taking a Brandon Inge foul ball on the hand. He’s expected to miss six weeks.
Arencibia finished the inning but Jeff Mathis batted for him in the second. Mathis also pitched the ninth, allowing two runs on three hits.
Toronto starter Ricky Romero (8-7) was removed after 1 1/3 innings, the shortest start of his career. He was charged with eight runs on four hits and six walks (one intentional) in losing his sixth start in a row. His earned-run average in the six losses is 10.48.
The shortest start of the left-hander’s career before Wednesday was 2 1/3 innings against Boston on July 9, 2010. It was the fourth consecutive start in which the Blue Jays have not scored a run in support of Romero.
A.J. Griffin (3-0) held the Blue Jays (48-49) to three hits and no runs in six innings to win his third start in a row.
Chris Carter hit a homer, one of three Oakland solo homers against reliever Drew Carpenter, and drove in three runs. The A’s are 16-2 in July.
Jonny Gomes walked and scored from first on a two-out double by Yoenis Cespedes to give Oakland a 1-0 lead in the first.
Oakland (53-44) scored eight in the second, started by a walk to Derek Norris. With one out, Jemile Weeks walked. Crisp singled to left and a run scored when Travis Snider overran the ball for an error. Gomes singled in one run and Josh Reddick doubled in another.
Cespedes was walked intentionally to load the bases and Romero walked Carter to force in a run. Chad Beck replaced Romero and gave up a two-run double to Inge. Norris singled in a run and a run scored when Brandon Hicks grounded out to make the score 9-0.
Crisp led off the third against Carpenter with his fourth homer of the season.
He homered against Carpenter again with one out in the fifth. It was his first multi-homer game this season and the third of his career.
Carter hit his sixth homer of the season with one out in the sixth.
Cespedes doubled in a run and Carter scored another with a groundout as the A’s scored twice, one earned, in the eighth against Aaron Loup.