Bichette, Blue Jays hit 6 more HRs in Buffalo, bop Rays 12-4

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Teoscar Hernández hit two of Toronto’s six home runs, Bo Bichette connected for the fourth straight game and the Blue Jays kept knocking balls out of their new Buffalo park, beating the Tampa Bay Rays 12-4 Friday night.

Along with their seven homers in a 14-11 loss to Miami on Wednesday night at Sahlen Field, Toronto became the fourth team in major league history to hit at least six homers in back-to-back games. The Blue Jays joined the Dodgers (1996), Angels (2003) and Washington (2012).

Randal Grichuk hit a tying homer in the sixth, Bichette added a three-run drive and Hernández connected to cap the five-run inning that made it 8-4.

“They got themselves in hitters’ counts, and they made us pay for it,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “(In) the sixth inning, we hit for 30 minutes and got one run. They hit for four minutes and got five. It’s tough to combat that.”

Rowdy Tellez and Cavan Biggio also homered for the Blue Jays. In three games so far at the home of their Triple-A affiliate, they have scored 25 of their 28 runs on long balls, including 22 of their last 23.

Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo doesn't believe that his team is relying too much on the home run.

“We did get on base," Montoyo said. ”Then we get the three-run homers and the two-run homers. Any good team has to get on base."

In addition to suiting the talent of Toronto hitters, the Buffalo park is a little tighter down the lines than Rogers Centre in Toronto. On the American side, it's 325 feet to the corners, 371 to left-center, 367 to right-center and 404 to straightaway center field.

“For me, it's not different,” Hernandez said. “We're just enjoying our game. I'm just trying to hit the ball.”

“I’ve seen days where you can hit it as hard as you...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Bichette-Blue-Jays-hit-6-more-HRs-in-Buffalo-15485748.php