TORONTO — The Cleveland Indians hoped a strong outing from Corey Kluber could help them start a new winning streak.
Instead, the ace right-hander suffered through one of his worst starts of the season.
Troy Tulowitzki had three hits on his bobblehead day, including a three-run homer, Russell Martin homered and drove in five runs and the Blue Jays routed Kluber and the Indians 17-1 Sunday.
Cleveland lost its second straight after a franchise-record 14-game winning streak.
Kluber (8-8) gave up five runs and seven hits in 3 1/3 innings, his second-shortest outing this season.
“All day it was just a fight for him,” Indians manager Terry Francona said.
Kluber came in having won his previous two starts, including a three-hit shutout over Tampa Bay on June 21, but struggled to find the strike zone against Toronto.
“I commanded the ball terribly,” Kluber said. “It all starts with fastball command and I didn’t command my fastball.”
Catcher Chris Gimenez pitched two innings for the Indians, becoming the third position player to take the mound this series. Toronto used infielders Ryan Goins and Darwin Barney in Friday’s 19-inning loss.
Josh Donaldson had four hits and scored four times for the Blue Jays, whose eight-run sixth was their highest-scoring inning this season. Edwin Encarnacion had four RBI, raising his major league-leading total to 77.
Toronto scored its most runs since beating Tampa Bay 17-11 on Aug. 7, 2010, and the Blue Jays matched their season high with 18 hits.
“The boys came out swinging today,” left-hander J.A. Happ said. “That was great.”
Happ (11-3) won his fifth straight start, striking out a season-high 11 while allowing one run and five hits in seven innings.
Back in the fold
Indians outfielder Abraham Almonte made his first start of the season after being activated off the restricted list. Almonte was suspended in February for 80 games after testing positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance. He went 0-for-3 and struck out looking twice.
Roster report
Cleveland optioned LHP Shawn Morimando to Triple-A Columbus and moved outfielder Michael Brantley (right shoulder) from the 15-day DL to the 60-day DL.
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