Jayson Werth surprised even himself with his power surge.
Werth connected for three home runs and had eight RBIs to match a Philadelphia Phillies record in a 10-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night.
“Anything can happen on any given day, I guess,” Werth said. “This game is crazy. It’s not like I was trying to do anything like that. It just happened. I don’t know what else to say. It’s just crazy.”
Werth had a chance to tie the major league record of four homers in a game in the seventh inning, but he fouled out to first base on a 3-2 pitch off Brian Tallet.
“Hitting a home run was probably on my mind,” Werth said. “I was just looking for a good pitch to hit.”
Werth became the 18th Phillies player to record three homers in a game. Ryan Howard was the last – on Sept. 3, 2006, against Atlanta in the first game of a doubleheader.
“Jayson had a great night at the plate,” Howard said. “It’s a night he’ll remember, I’m sure. He deserves it because he’s been working hard at it.”
In other interleague games Friday, it was Tampa Bay 3, St. Louis 1; Texas 16, Houston 8; the Los Angeles Angels 4, the Los Angeles Dodgers 2; the Chicago White Sox 2, San Francisco 0; San Diego 6, Seattle 4; Minnesota 4, Colorado 2; Kansas City 7, Florida 6; Arizona 4, Detroit 3; Cincinnati 4, Cleveland 3; Baltimore 5, Washington 3; and Atlanta 3, Oakland 2.
In the only National League game, Chicago beat Pittsburgh 5-4.
The Mets-Yankees game was rained out with no makeup date set. The Brewers-Red Sox game was also rained out, and will be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader on Saturday.
Werth hit an 0-1 pitch off Blue Jays starter David Purcey for a three-run home run to right field in the second inning and topped that with a 425-foot grand slam to right on a 3-1 pitch against Purcey (0-1) in the third.
“When you have balls over the plate, he’s a good hitter and he’s going to hit them,” said Purcey, who was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse after the game. “I was just trying to make a perfect pitch and fell behind on them.”
Werth then ripped a solo shot to left-center in the fifth off reliever Jesse Litsch on a 2-1 pitch for a 9-2 lead.
The eight RBIs tied a franchise record held by four players, most recently by Mike Schmidt in a 10-inning game at Chicago on April 17, 1976. The others are Kitty Bransfeld (1910), Gavvy Cravath (1915) and Willie Jones (1958).
“If you watch him (Werth) in batting practice, he can hit the ball as far as anybody,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.
Philadelphia’s 45-year-old left-hander Jamie Moyer (3-3) went 6 2-3 innings and gave up seven hits and three earned runs. He walked two and struck out five.
Purcey, who was making just his second major league start, allowed five hits and eight runs while walking four in three shaky innings.
“It was only his second big league start and it’s not easy,” Toronto manager John Gibbons said. ‘He’ll get over the nerves.”
Rays 3, Cardinals 1
Andy Sonnanstine (6-1) carried a shutout into the eighth inning and added two singles to help visiting Tampa Bay move eight games above .500 for the first time in franchise history.
Braden Looper (5-3) threw a career-high 117 pitches and gave up three runs for St. Louis.
Rangers 16, Astros 8
At Arlington, Texas, Josh Hamilton went 5-for-5 with two homers and five RBIs, and Ian Kinsler scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning to make a winner of Jamey Wright (2-1).
After Kinsler scored, Hamilton added an RBI triple off Wesley Wright (3-1).
Angels 4, Dodgers 2
At Anaheim, Calif., Joe Saunders (7-1) bounced back from his lone loss of the year and Vladimir Guerrero drove in two runs without a hit for the Angels.
Hiroki Kuroda (1-3) allowed four runs, three earned, on seven hits and two walks in 6 1-3 innings.
White Sox 2, Giants 0
Alexei Ramirez hit his first major league homer, a two-run shot in the seventh inning to back a strong performance from Gavin Floyd (4-2).
Four relievers finished visiting Chicago’s fourth shutout, with Bobby Jenks getting his ninth save.
Jonathan Sanchez (2-3) hasn’t won since beating Cincinnati on April 25.
Padres 6, Mariners 4
At Seattle, Brian Giles had four hits and Tadahito Iguchi homered to help Chris Young (4-3) win for the third time in four starts. Trevor Hoffman worked the ninth for his eighth save.
Miguel Batista (3-5) gave up two runs in six innings for Seattle.
Twins 4, Rockies 2
At Denver, Nick Blackburn (4-2) pitched seven strong innings and Delmon Young doubled twice and scored two runs before Joe Nathan remained perfect in 13 save opportunities.
Ubaldo Jimenez (1-4), who hasn’t won since April 8, struck out five and walked one.
Royals 7, Marlins 6
Brett Tomko (2-4) pitched six innings for his first victory in nearly six weeks, and two unearned runs helped visiting Kansas City extend its winning streak to five games.
Andrew Miller (3-3) allowed four runs, two earned, in five innings for the Marlins.
Diamondbacks 4, Tigers 3
Eric Byrnes homered and had two RBIs as host Arizona won its fourth straight. Dan Haren (5-2) scattered six hits and allowed three runs in seven innings.
Zach Miner (1-3) took the loss for Detroit.
Reds 4, Indians 3
Adam Dunn homered and drew a tiebreaking walk with the bases loaded in the eighth inning, sending host Cincinnati to its season-high fourth straight win.
David Weathers (1-2) escaped the eighth, and Francisco Cordero got his eighth save.
Orioles 5, Nationals 3
At Baltimore, Luke Scott homered, Melvin Mora hit a tiebreaking double in the fifth inning off Shawn Hill (0-1), and the Orioles won for the sixth time in seven games.
Garrett Olson (3-0) struggled through five innings but is undefeated in four starts since being recalled from Triple-A Norfolk. George Sherrill earned his 16th save in 18 tries.
Braves 3, Athletics 2
Mark Kotsay knocked in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning with a two-out RBI double, and Manny Acosta (2-1) helped Atlanta win its eighth straight at home.
Alan Embree (1-2) took the loss when he gave up Kotsay’s RBI double.
Cubs 7, Pirates 4
Alfonso Soriano homered in his first two at-bats, Geovany Soto and Mark DeRosa went deep and the host Cubs won for the seventh time in eight games.
Sean Gallagher (1-0) earned his first major league win in his second start for Chicago.
Tom Gorzelanny (3-4) gave up a career-high four homers and seven runs in six innings.
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