TORONTO, 9 July 2005 — Vernon Wells hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to a 4-2 win over the Oakland Athletics in American League play on Thursday at the Rogers Centre.
Wells also hit a three-run homer in Wednesday’s 8-0 Blue Jay win over the Athletics as Toronto took two of three games in the series against Oakland. The Blue Jays have won six of their past eight games and are just four games back of first place Boston in the AL East.
“My numbers don’t matter,” Wells said after hitting his 17th home run of the season. “I’m not happy until the season is over and we’re in the playoffs.
“The pitch just got a little up and I made contact with it. The important thing is that we keep winning ballgames.”
The surprising Blue Jays are 44-41 and just three games out of the AL Wild Card spot as well.
The A’s got back to the .500 mark with a win in the series opener on Tuesday but dropped their second straight. Oakland has lost just four times in the past 18 games.
Gustavo Chacin (7-5) allowed two runs on five hits over 5 2/3 innings to pick up the win, striking out four and walking one. Four relievers completed the seven-hitter, including Miguel Batista, who got the last four outs for his 15th save.
Frank Catalanotto had two hits and drove in the other Toronto run, as the Blue Jays made the most of just six hits.
Canadian Rich Harden (5-4) allowed four runs on five hits over five innings and took the loss. He struck out five but walked six.
Eric Byrnes hit a two-run homer for the Athletics only runs. Jason Kendall and Mark Ellis both had two hits for Oakland.
In other AL games played Thursday, Chris Shelton hit a two-run homer as the Detroit Tigers beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 6-4.
Sean Douglass (2-0) pitched five innings, allowing three runs on five hits, walking one and striking out four for the win and Troy Percival pitched one inning for his eighth save. Magglio Ordonez homered for the Tigers.
Seth McClung (0-5) pitched seven innings, allowing four runs on six hits, walking five and striking out six to take the loss. Julio Lugo had two hits and drove in four runs for the Devil Rays.
In New York, Mike Mussina pitched seven strong innings as the Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians 7-2.
Mussina (9-5) allowed two runs on six hits, walking three and striking out five. Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi and Derek Jeter homered for the Yankees.
Kevin Millwood (3-7) pitched six innings, allowing six runs on seven hits, walking two and striking out six to take the loss. Jhonny Peralta homered for the Indians.
In Baltimore, Melvin Mora homered as the Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox 3-1 in a game shortened to six innings because of rain.
Daniel Cabrera (7-7) pitched five innings, allowing one run on three hits, walking five and striking out eight for the win. Tim Byrdak pitched one inning for his first save. Eli Marrero homered for the Orioles.
David Wells (6-5) pitched six innings, allowing three runs on five hits, walking one and striking out two to take the loss. Trot Nixon had two hits for the Red Sox.
In Kansas City, Tony Graffanino drove in three runs as the Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 8-5.
Jose Lima (2-7) pitched 6 2? 3 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits, walking two and striking out four for the win.
Kyle Lohse (7-7) pitched five innings, allowing four runs on nine hits, walking two and striking out three to take the loss. Nick Punto homered for the Twins.
In Los Angeles, Jeremy Reed drove in four runs as the Seattle Mariners beat the Angels 10-2. Adrian Beltre had three RBI for the Mariners and Randy Winn hit a two-run homer. Joel Pineiro (3-4) allowed two runs on six hits for the complete game victory.
Bartolo Colon (11-5) gave up seven runs on seven hits over six innings and took the loss. Josh Paul homered for the Angels.
