Instant Replay: Blue Jays 10, Phillies 0

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The Toronto Blue Jays made it three in a row over the Phillies as the four-game home-and-home series began its Toronto phase on Wednesday.

The Blue Jays broke up what was a tight pitchers' duel during a nine-run seventh inning with three home runs accounting for seven of the runs in their 10-0 victory.

The Phillies did not help themselves at times with their defense, but left-hander Cliff Lee just seemed to suddenly lose it in the seventh when he allowed two home runs.

The Blue Jays are 17-17 and the Phillies dropped to 15-17.

Starting pitching report
For a while, this was a duel between two clever left-handers. Lee retired his first seven batters before Colby Rasmus singled in the third, Steve Tolleson hit a ground-rule double and Jose Reyes hit a sacrifice fly to the edge of the warning track in right-center.

Lee’s undoing came in the nine-run seventh when he allowed five hits in six batters, including a triple, double and two home runs. The second homer was the first career home run against a left-hander by left-handed hitter Juan Francisco. Lee was charged with six runs on seven hits and a walk in 6 1/3 innings. He is 3-3 with a 3.64 ERA for the season.

Toronto’s Mark Buehrle allowed three hits, two walks and no runs in seven innings to improve to 6-1 with a 1.91 ERA this season.

Bullpen report
Left-hander Mario Hollands took over for Lee with one out in Toronto’s nine-run seventh and had a walk and a strikeout. The problem was the strikeout came on a wild pitch that allowed Melky Cabrera to reach first base while Tolleson scored from third. Right-hander Shawn Camp entered and allowed a run-scoring single by Jose Bautista and a three-run homer by Edwin Encarnacion.

At the plate
The Phillies could not take advantage of Marlon Byrd’s one-out double in the second. They also failed to do anything in the third with a leadoff walk by Cody Asche and a one-out single by Ben Revere. Byrd’s leadoff single in the seventh also went to waste.

In the field
Asche, who had a four-hit game that included a grand slam in Tuesday’s 6-5 loss to the Blue Jays, made a nice grab on Bautista’s liner to third for the first out in the fourth and ended the inning with a good play on a grounder by former Phillie Erik Kratz.

Bautista made a sliding catch in right field on Chase Utley’s sinking drive in the sixth with Jimmy Rollins at first after a walk.

Revere should have done a better job in center field on Encarnacion’s leadoff triple in Toronto’s nine-run seventh. It was followed by a home run by Kratz and a lot more.

We're not sure what Tony Gwynn Jr. was trying to do on Tolleson’s fly ball to right in the eighth inning, but the result was a triple.

Health check
Rollins who did not start at shortstop for the previous two games because of a groin injury, started on Wednesday as designated hitter (see story).

Up next
The teams wrap up their four-game home-and-home series on Thursday night with knuckleball pitcher R.A. Dickey (2-3, 5.01) facing A.J. Burnett (2-1, 2.06).

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