TORONTO -- Jose Bautista drove in four runs and starter Mark Buehrle worked seven innings as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Chicago Cubs 9-2 on Tuesday night at Rogers Centre.
Bautista cleared the bases with a double in the seventh inning off Chicago reliever Neil Ramirez to help Toronto (75-69) win its third straight game.
Kevin Pillar and Edwin Encarnacion had three hits apiece for the Blue Jays, who turned the game into a rout with a five-run eighth inning. Toronto outhit Chicago 14-11 and will go for the three-game sweep on Wednesday night.
It was an uneven performance from Buehrle (12-9), who allowed two earned runs and 10 hits but managed to avoid giving up a big inning. Aaron Sanchez and Daniel Norris each worked an inning of relief.
The Blue Jays entered play five games behind Seattle in the race for the final wild-card spot in the American League. Toronto has won eight of 10 to keep its faint playoff hopes alive.
The Cubs, who have dropped five games in a row, left 11 runners on base.
Buehrle fanned leadoff man Chris Coghlan on three pitches to kick off the game on a cool, comfortable summer evening. Javier Baez followed with a double, stole third and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jorge Soler.
Chicago (64-81) loaded the bases in the second inning after Buehrle gave up three singles. The veteran left-hander got out of the jam when Coghlan grounded out.
Buehrle kept putting runners on but the defence did a nice job bailing him out. Welington Castillo led off the fourth with a single before Mike Olt and Arismendy Alcantara hit back-to-back line drives that were speared by third baseman Danny Valencia.
Chris Valaika moved Castillo to second base with another single but Matt Szczur popped up to Buehrle to end the threat.
Encarnacion drove a ball off the top of the wall to open the Toronto half of the fourth but settled for a long single. Adam Lind drew a walk but Dioner Navarro couldn't advance the runners, swinging at a 3-0 pitch and popping up in the infield.
Valencia nearly put the Jays on the board but his line drive was snagged by a fully stretched Valaika at first base. Valaika threw to second to easily double off Encarnacion.
The Cubs put runners on again in the fifth and this time cashed in a run. Baez singled and cleanup hitter Luis Valbuena was hit by a pitch. Castillo drove in Baez with a two-out single before Olt struck out.
The Blue Jays tried a more aggressive style against Chicago starter Jake Arrieta in the bottom half of the frame.
Pillar led off with a single but was thrown out trying to steal. Ryan Goins then drove a ball into left-centre field and hustled into second base just ahead of Coghlan's throw.
Anthony Gose tried to bunt with two strikes but fouled a pitch for the second out. Goins moved to third base on a wild pitch and scored when Jose Reyes hit a flare that dropped in shallow centre field.
Arrieta was wide with a pickoff attempt and the ball rolled into foul territory, allowing Reyes to scamper all the way to third. He was left stranded when Bautista flew out, with the Toronto slugger angrily slamming his bat to the turf as he left the batter's box.
The Cubs stranded two more runners in the sixth inning after Szczur and Coghlan reached on back-to-back two-out singles. Pitching coach Pete Walker came out to the mound and Buehrle responded by freezing Baez with a fastball for the strikeout.
Pillar stroked a one-out single in the seventh to knock Arrieta out of the game. Ramirez (2-2) came on in relief and gave up a single to pinch-hitter Colby Rasmus and a walk to pinch-hitter Munenori Kawasaki.
Ramirez fanned Reyes and worked a full count on Bautista before the Toronto slugger hit his 26th double of the season.
The Blue Jays piled on in the eighth against right-hander Brian Schlitter. Lind led off with a triple and was replaced by pinch-runner Steve Tolleson, who scored on a Navarro single.
Navarro moved to third on a Valencia double and Rasmus was intentionally walked to load the bases with two outs. Kawasaki hit a two-run single to help put the game out of reach.
Arrieta allowed seven hits, two earned runs and a walk while striking out five. Buehrle had three strikeouts and didn't walk a batter.
Announced attendance was 17,903 and the game took three hours four minutes to play.
Notes: The roof was open despite the occasional presence of dark swirling clouds overhead. ... Toronto Argonauts slotback Andre Durie threw the ceremonial first pitch. ... Encarnacion was originally pencilled in as the first baseman but was moved to designated hitter about an hour before the game. Lind moved from DH to first base. ... Right-hander Drew Hutchison (9-11, 4.47 ERA) will get the start in the series finale against Chicago's Kyle Hendricks (6-1, 2.02). ... This is the first series the Cubs have played on artificial turf since a six-game road trip to Toronto and Tampa Bay in 2008 -- a stretch of 1,040 games on natural grass fields. ... The Blue Jays are off Thursday and will wrap up the six-game homestand with a weekend series against the Rays. ... Toronto entered play with a 1.6 per cent chance of reaching the playoffs, according to Baseball Prospectus post-season probabilities listed on the Major League Baseball website.
