BALTIMORE -- Michael Saunders set career highs with three homers and eight RBIs, and the Toronto Blue Jays clubbed the Baltimore Orioles 13-3 in the opener of a three-game series on Friday night.Justin Smoak had a two-run homer and Josh Donaldson added a solo shot and a two-run triple for the Blue Jays, who won their fourth straight to pull within one game of the American League-East leading Orioles.Saunders hit three-run shots in the first and fourth innings and added a two-run homer, his 15th home run of the season, in the sixth.Toronto's explosion came minus Jose Bautista, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained left big toe suffered Thursday in Philadelphia.Giants 5, Rays 1ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Jeff Samardzija was an out away from a three-hit shutout as San Francisco cruised to its sixth straight win.Samardzija was dominant -- he gave up two singles in the second inning, then faced the minimum for the next six-plus innings.With two outs in the ninth, Rays shortstop... [More]

LF Michael Saunders went 1-for-5 with a first-inning homer Thursday against Philadelphia, in his return to the starting lineup. He was removed from Tuesday's victory over Philadelphia with a sore thigh, and introduced as a pinch hitter in Wednesday's game against the Phillies, only to be removed in favor of INF Andy Burns.. Thursday's homer followed a two-run blast by 1B Edwin Encarnacion, the fifth time the Blue Jays have gone back to back this season. Saunders and Encarnacion were the last to do it, five days earlier against Baltimore.

LF Michael Saunders returned to the starting lineup on Thursday night. He was removed from Tuesday's victory over Philadelphia with a sore thigh and then introduced as a pinch hitter in Wednesday's game against the Phillies but removed in favor of INF Andy Burns.

OF Michael Saunders, pulled from Tuesday's game against the Phillies with a sore thigh, was not in the starting lineup.

LF Michael Saunders entered Tuesday on a seven-game hit streak, batting .480 (12-for-25). He went 0-for-1 with a walk in the 11-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies before leaving for pinch-hitter INF Darwin Barney in what would have been his second at-bat of the third inning. He has a tight right hamstring. Manager John Gibbons said that it does not appear to be a long-term issue but could not say whether Saunders would be available for the game Wednesday in Philadelphia. He leads all left-handed hitters in the majors with six home runs against left-handed pitching.

LF Michael Saunders walked in the first inning and came around to score. He has now reached base safely in 21 of the Blue Jays' last 22 games. He finished with seven hits in the four-game series, for his season-high in a series.

LF Michael Saunders extended his hitting streak to eight games with AN RBI single in the second inning Sunday. Saunders has reached base in 15 consecutive games.

OF Michael Saunders was out of the starting lineup Wednesday despite going 6-for-14 (.429) over his last four games. Manager John Gibbons said it was routine, to keep him fresh.

LF Michael Saunders had a good-news, bad-news game Monday night when, among other things, he stumbled over the bullpen mound at AT&T Park in San Francisco and had a foul fly ball bounce off his head. On Tuesday, it was all good news for the outfielder, who had a triple and two singles and scored twice in Toronto's 4-0 win against the Giants. The first run came on a sacrifice fly by SS Troy Tulowitzki, with Saunders sliding home as CF Denard Span's throw, coincidentally, was bouncing errantly off the mound in the middle of the diamond.

LF Michael Saunders was both good and bad in Monday's game against the Giants. In the end, he was able to chuckle about the Blue Jays' 3-1 win. Saunders contributed to the offense, smacking an RBI single in the first inning to plate Toronto's first run. However, he later lost a fly ball in the lights, resulting in a double, and got hit in the head with a foul fly after stumbling over the bullpen mound at AT&T Park.

LF Michael Saunders was 1-for-4 with three strikeouts Wednesday in the 4-3 win over the Texas Rangers. He also struck out three times Tuesday in the 3-1 win over the Rangers. It marked the first time in his career that he has recorded back-to-back three strikeout games.

LF Michael Saunders was 1-for-3 with a single, an RBI and walk Monday in the 2-1 loss to the Texas Rangers. In 12 games since moving into the leadoff spot, he is batting .319 (15-for-47) with a .407 on-base percentage.

LF Michael Saunders hit two home runs, his third and fourth of the season and pushed his average to .324. Saunders' first home run was in the third inning off Rays starter Drew Smyly and was the team's first hit of the game. "Baseball is all about repetition," Saunders said. "And the more consistent at bats you get, the easier it is to hit."

LF Michael Saunders was 1-for-4 with a double Tuesday in the 10-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox to extend his hitting streak to seven games. He is 12-for-30 (.400) during his streak, which has coincided with his move to the leadoff spot in the batting order. It is his longest streak since he hit in eight straight games May 27-June 3, 2014.

LF Michael Saunders (hamstring) returned to the lineup Monday after missing three games to rest a sore hamstring. He was 3-for-5 with a two-run homer in the 7-5 loss to the Chicago White Sox. He has a six-game hitting streak, 11-for-26 (.423). His single came on a bouncer in the ninth that ended the game when it hit SS Troy Tulowitzki. "I'm trying to get to second base there so I'm trying to time it perfect," Tulowitzki said. "The ball kicked back at me a little bit, hit me in the arm. You sit there and you're pretty frustrated. You don't want that game to ever end that way. But at the same time, I know that I did everything possible to try to make that play work, it just didn't happen."

LF Michael Saunders (hamstring) returned Monday to the starting lineup Monday after missing three games.

LF Michael Saunders (hamstring) missed his second straight game on Saturday. He has been dealing with a nagging hamstring problem. Since moving into the leadoff spot, Saunders is on a five-game hitting streak in which he is batting .381 (8-for-21) with a .458 on-base percentage.

LF Michael Saunders (hamstring) did not play in the 8-5 loss to the Oakland Athletics on Friday night to give his hamstrings a rest. The hamstrings have been bothering him but are not considered a serious problem. OF Ezequiel Carrera played left field on Friday and was in the leadoff spot in the batting order in place of Saunders. Carrera was 1-for-5 with a double and was charged with an error in the ninth inning that allowed a run to score.

LF Michael Saunders (hamstring) did not play in the 8-5 loss to the Oakland Athletics on Friday.His hamstrings have been bothering him but are not considered a serious problem. OF Ezequiel Carrera played left field on Friday and was in the leadoff spot in the batting order in place of Saunders. Carrera was 1-for-5 with a double and was charged with an error in the ninth inning that allowed a run to score.

LF Michael Saunders was not in the starting lineup Friday because of a hamstring injury. It is not considered serious.