OAKLAND -- Russell Martin homered, doubled and drove in three runs, Josh Donaldson went deep against his former team and the Toronto Blue Jays powered past the Oakland Athletics 5-2 on Thursday.
The Blue Jays continued their pop at the plate to give knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (4-10) all the support he needed. Dickey allowed two runs and five hits in 8 1-3 innings in place of ill starter Drew Hutchison, who is scheduled to take the mound in Friday's series opener at Seattle instead.
Drew Pomeranz started after the A's traded lefty Scott Kazmir to Houston for a pair of minor leaguers before the game. Pomeranz gave up two runs in 1 2-3 innings, and the bullpen also struggled to contain Toronto's potent hitters.
[STIGLICH: A's trade Kazmir to Astros]
Bo Schultz got Ike Davis to ground into a double play for his first career save.
Dan Otero (2-4) allowed two runs in three innings for the loss.
The news of Kazmir's trade caught A's players by surprise. They spent the morning saying goodbye to Kazmir as he packed up his belongs in the clubhouse, and they looked equally baffled by Dickey's tricky tosses.
Dickey struck out six and walked one for his first win in six starts. His previous victory came against his former club, the New York Mets, on June 18.
Oakland received sought-after catcher Jacob Nottingham and right-handed pitcher Daniel Mengden in the swap for Kazmir with its AL West rival as it builds for the future.
Presently, the Blue Jays are consistently riding the long ball to wins. After taking two of three at Tampa Bay and Oakland, Toronto is 4-2 since the All-Star break.
Martin's 14th homer in the second inning gave the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead. It was his second long ball in three days at the Coliseum, which plays shorter in the dry afternoon sunshine than the thick air at night.
Billy Burns hit an RBI single and scored the tying run for the A's on Josh Reddick's grounder in the third.
In the fourth, Martin doubled with two outs and scored on Chris Colabello's double to put the Blue Jays back in front. And Donaldson drove his 23rd homer to deep right-center off Otero in the fifth.
Martin's sacrifice fly in the sixth gave Toronto a 5-2 lead.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Blue Jays: SS Jose Reyes was replaced in the eighth after Burns slid head-first into Reyes' left ankle at second while hustling for a double. Reyes slowly walked off the field.
Athletics: OF Coco Crisp continues to progress from a neck injury that has sidelined him since May 20. Manager Bob Melvin said no decision has been made on whether Crisp will make a minor league rehab assignment, which he has turned down in the past.
UP NEXT
Blue Jays: Hutchison (9-2, 5.19 ERA) is scheduled to start against Seattle ace Felix Hernandez on Friday. If Hutchison is still ill and unable to make the start, then right-hander Marco Estrada will take the mound.
Athletics: RHP Jesse Chavez (5-9, 3.21 ERA), who tossed six scoreless innings in his last start against Minnesota, looks to carry the momentum into the Bay Bridge Series opener at San Francisco.
