TORONTO - Khris Davis hit one of Oakland's three home runs and reached base five times in all as the Athletics dumped the Toronto Blue Jays 10-5 on Thursday at Rogers Centre.
Davis belted his team-leading 13th homer of the season in Oakland's three-run third inning. He finished with four hits on the night and was also hit by a pitch.
Matt Olson hit a three-run shot in the fifth inning and Matt Chapman put the game away with a two-run blast in the sixth. The Athletics outhit the Blue Jays 14-7.
Aaron Sanchez (2-4) took the loss in the opener of the four-game series. The result left Oakland and Toronto with identical .500 records at 22-22.
Reliever Yusmeiro Petit (1-0) worked 2 2/3 innings for the victory as the Athletics improved to 4-3 on their 10-game road trip.
Sanchez did well to escape a bases-loaded jam in the first inning. He gave up a single and walked the bases loaded before fanning Chapman with his 29th pitch of the frame.
Toronto scratched out a run in the second off Oakland starter Andrew Triggs. Kevin Pillar led off with a double, moved to third on a Russell Martin sacrifice fly and scored when Kendrys Morales hit into a fielder's choice.
Sanchez gave up three straight hits in the third - a single to Matt Joyce, RBI double to Jed Lowrie and the Davis blast - as the A's pulled ahead for a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
Triggs took himself out of the game later in the inning due to "forearm nerve discomfort" in his throwing arm.
Sanchez was pulled in the fifth after issuing a leadoff walk. He struck out eight and gave up four walks, five hits and four earned runs.
Seunghwan Oh came on in relief but gave up three earned runs over two-thirds of an inning. His earned-run average nearly doubled to 2.79.
The Blue Jays got back into the game with three runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Justin Smoak's RBI double was followed by an RBI single from Yangervis Solarte. Smoak came home on a sacrifice fly by Pillar, helped in part by a throwing error from Olson.
In the eighth, Curtis Granderson drew a bases-loaded walk to bring Josh Donaldson to the plate with the potential tying run. But reliever Lou Trivino got the Toronto slugger to ground out to end the inning.
Announced attendance was 22,893 and the game took three hours 34 minutes to play.
Oakland placed Bruce Maxwell on the restricted list for the series and recalled fellow catcher Josh Phegley from triple-A Nashville. Maxwell can't enter Canada while awaiting sentencing in Arizona on a gun-related charge.
Notes: Canadian skier Manuel Osborne-Paradis threw the ceremonial first pitch. ... The retractable roof was open for the second time this year. It was sunny and 19 C at game time. ... Outfielder Teoscar Hernandez sat out with back tightness. Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said Hernandez is day to day. ... Right-hander Marco Estrada (2-3, 5.32 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday against Oakland southpaw Brett Anderson (0-2, 8.16).
