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  Sunday, Jul. 9 1:35pm ET
Mondesi homers in third straight game
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

MONTREAL (AP) -- Raul Mondesi didn't want to jinx himself, so he kept his mouth closed.

Mondesi homered for the third straight game and Frank Castillo won his fifth straight decision, leading the Toronto Blue Jays to a 13-3 victory over the Montreal Expos on Sunday.

Raul Mondesi
Mondesi

Mondesi, who hit a two-run homer Friday and a three-run shot Saturday, connected for another three-run homer off Dustin Hermanson (6-7) in the fifth.

"Sorry, guys," Mondesi told reporters, recalling a home run drought last season with Los Angeles which saw him connect just once in his next 39 games after May 28, when he led the majors with 18 homers.

Toronto manager Jim Fregosi was more than happy to talk on his right fielder's behalf.

"Mondesi's really having a fine season for us," Fregosi said. "If you look on the board, he's got 70-plus runs scored, 60 RBI, 20-plus homers -- he's done a great job for us. He plays hard, he's a great defensive right fielder and he's done everything we could have hoped for."

The Blue Jays won two of three from Montreal to finish 6-7 on their longest road trip of the season. Toronto raised its record to 48-41 in collecting a season-high 18 hits off six Expos pitchers. The 13 runs tied a season high, also against Montreal, on June 9.

Tony Batista, added to the AL All-Star team prior to the game, went 3-for-5 with three RBI, including a two-run single in the sixth off reliever Yovanny Lara.

He was looking forward to making his first All-Star appearance.

"I'm happy right now," Batista said. "I think most of the guys, that's what they're looking for. Right now it's happening to me so I feel great. I hope I can be the MVP."

Castillo (6-5), who started the season 1-5, allowed six hits and two runs in seven innings, including Mike Mordecai's two-out solo homer in the second. He walked one and struck out four.

"I've just been throwing the ball well since May," Castillo said. "I just try and give my team a chance to win, and so far I've pretty much done that. I'm just having fun out there."

Expos manager Felipe Alou felt the timing was right for a few days off, joking that some of his players might have gotten a jump on the break.

"Yeah, it surely is," Alou said. "We were off after the fourth inning today. We welcome it. We have a lot of injuries."

Montreal lost its second in a row after winning four of five, falling to .500 (42-42).

"It's nothing to be proud of under normal circumstances," Alou said. "Nevertheless, under abnormal circumstances, the effort of the players is highly appreciated."

Carlos Delgado and Batista put Toronto ahead 2-1 with consecutive RBI singles in the fourth.

The Blue Jays, 13-6 overall against Montreal, chased Hermanson with a six-run fifth. Hermanson allowed seven runs on nine hits and four walks in four-plus innings.

Shannon Stewart doubled, Homer Bush singled and Mondesi followed with his 23rd homer to make it 5-1.

Delgado doubled as right fielder Vladimir Guerrero lost his liner at the last moment in the Olympic Stadium lights, and Batista reached on an infield single when his slow roller got past Hermanson.

Darrin Fletcher followed with an RBI double off Lara, and pinch-hitter Marty Cordova increased Toronto's lead to 7-1 with a run-scoring single.

The Blue Jays scored their sixth run of the inning on Chris Woodward's double-play grounder.

Batista's two-run single and Woodward's bases-loaded walk in the sixth increased the lead to 11-1.

Terry Jones' RBI double in the bottom half drove in Montreal's second run.

Reliever Mike Johnson hit Fletcher with the bases loaded in the seventh to force home the Blue Jays' 12th run. Pinch-hitter Todd Greene's RBI double in the ninth capped Toronto's scoring.

Fernando Seguignol led off the bottom of the ninth with his first home run of the season, off Lance Painter.

Game notes
Toronto is 6-2 overall at Olympic Stadium. ... The Blue Jays sent 33 batters to the plate from the fourth through the seventh innings. ... Toronto CF Jose Cruz Jr. left in the fifth due to a virus. ... Expos LF Rondell White missed his second straight start with a strained right hamstring. ... 1B Lee Stevens missed just his fourth start of the season after he was forced to leave Saturday night's game when struck on the right hand by David Wells' pitch. X-rays of Stevens' hand proved negative.

 


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