Blue Jays 8, Nationals 0
WASHINGTON -- Starter Mark Buehrle threw a six-hit shutout and shortstop Jose Reyes had three hits and drove in two runs as the Toronto Blue Jays, who scored four runs in the first, beat the Washington Nationals 8-0 on Tuesday.
Buehrle (7-4) now has 30 Interleague wins, the most among active pitchers. Every Toronto starter had a hit and six different players drove in runs for Buehrle, who entered the game getting 7.96 runs of support while in the game this season. It was the 10th career shutout for the veteran lefty.
Toronto (25-30) took two of three games in the series and won a road game for just the third time in 12 outings. Washington (29-24), with five losses in six games, has now lost two series in a row after capturing its previous nine series.
Blue Jays second baseman Ryan Goins had a bloop double to left to drive in Justin Smoak, the first baseman, to give the Blue Jays a 6-0 advantage in the sixth. Two batters later Reyes had his second RBI single of the game to up the margin to 7-0. Right fielder Jose Bautista, who had two hits, smashed a solo homer in the ninth to make it 8-0.
The losing pitcher was Washington starter Taylor Jordan (0-2), who gave up seven runs and 10 hits in six innings. Reliever Taylor Hill took over in the seventh and gave up the Bautista homer in the ninth.
Toronto center fielder Kevin Pillar had two hits with an RBI and has driven in five runs in his last two games. Washington right fielder Bryce Harper and third baseman Yunel Escobar each had two hits.
The Blue Jays scored four runs in the top of the first inning against Jordan, who was making his first start of the year and the 15th of his career.
Right fielder Jose Bautista and left fielder Chris Colabello, who entered the game hitting .356, recorded back-to-back RBI singles to make it 2-0. First baseman Justin Smoak drove in a run with a groundout and center fielder Kevin Pillar, who hit two homers in the nightcap of a doubleheader Tuesday, made it 4-0 with an RBI single to left.
Reyes hit a two-out single to right field in the fourth to increase the margin to 5-0 as second baseman Ryan Goins scored just ahead of a strong throw from Washington's Bryce Harper.
NOTES: Washington OF Bryce Harper was named the National League Player of the Month and Nationals RHP Max Scherzer was named the National League Pitcher of the Month on Wednesday. Harper had 13 homers and 28 RBIs in 26 games in May. Scherzer was 5-1 with a 1.67 ERA. ... The Nationals begin a four-game series at home Thursday against the Chicago Cubs. Washington will start LHP Gio Gonzalez (4-2, 4.73 ERA) against Cubs RHP Jake Arrieta (4-4, 3.18). ... Toronto will begin a series at home Friday as RHP Aaron Sanchez (4-4, 3.88) starts for the Blue Jays. ... Toronto LHP Brett Cecil had not allowed a run in 37 of his last 40 outings going into Wednesday. The reliever is from nearby Dunkirk, Md., and was drafted by the Blue Jays from the University of Maryland in 2007. ... The Nationals won 20 of their first 21 games in which 3B Yunel Escobar scored a run. ... Washington allowed just 37 homers in its first 52 games.