Josh Donaldson of the Toronto Blue Jays grins as he tosses his bat aside after hitting a three-run homerun against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the third inning during the MLB game at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on August 22, 2015 in Anaheim, California.Victor Decolongon/Getty Images
For the third straight night, the Los Angeles Angels were overwhelmed on the mound and inept at the plate.
Now that their third straight humiliating defeat has finally knocked them out of playoff position, manager Mike Scioscia hopes the Angels will get it together in time to save their season.
Josh Donaldson went 4 for 5 with a three-run homer, driving in a career-high six runs and propelling the Toronto Blue Jays to their 18th victory in 22 games, 15-3 Saturday night.
Amid "M-V-P!" chants from the visitors' fans in Mike Trout's home stadium, Donaldson drove in six runs in a three-inning span, giving him 100 RBIs for the first time in his career.
Los Angeles trailed 10-0 after Toronto's seven-run fourth inning and eventually yielded 20 hits to the Blue Jays, who beat the Angels 9-2 on Friday. The Angels have been outscored by a combined 32-7 in their last three games, dropping them into third place in the AL West and the wild-card standings behind Texas.
"Right now we have to, in house, circle our wagons and get our game in order," Scioscia said. "We haven't pitched well this series, and on the offensive side, we're still waiting. We have to do some things better on the mound ... (and) we need to start swinging the bats, too."
Kaleb Cowart homered for his first major league hit for the Angels (63-60), who have lost nine of 13. C.J. Cron homered and David Murphy had an RBI double, but Los Angeles gave up season highs in runs and hits.
"I never say that I'm concerned," closer Huston Street said. "I'll be concerned when we're eliminated. It doesn't change the fact that you get mad. The Blue Jays are a phenomenal team. They score a lot of runs, but we're better than how we're playing."
Andrew Heaney (5-2) had the worst start of a solid rookie season for the Angels, yielding eight runs and seven hits. Heaney hadn't allowed more than two runs in an inning this season until Donaldson's two-out shot in the third. He left his shortest start of the season after walking three Jays in the fourth.
"For me, it's embarrassing, frustrating, irritating – whatever word you want to use, that's what I'm feeling right now," Heaney said. "I don't like going out there and feeling out of control, and feeling like I didn't do anything to help the team, and end up taxing an already taxed bullpen."
Jose Bautista had a two-run triple during the highest-scoring performance in three years by the majors' most productive offence. Edwin Encarnacion extended his hitting streak to 18 games while driving in three runs, and Chris Colabello hit a late two-run homer as the Angels' relievers also struggled.
Donaldson sent his 34th homer deep into the bullpens beyond left field in the third inning before delivering a two-run single in the fourth and an RBI double in the fifth.
"Fifteen runs is extreme, but we've been doing it all year," Toronto manager John Gibbons said. "Big outbursts. We've got a really good offence, top to bottom. It's a tough lineup to face."
Marco Estrada (11-7) got even more run support than David Price received Friday night, cruising to his fourth win in five starts while pitching five-hit ball into the sixth inning.
Cowart was 0 for 14 to start his career before homering in the fifth inning. The third baseman is the 12th player in Angels history to homer on his first hit, and the first since Terry Evans in 2007.
Trout went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts, dropping the reigning AL MVP's August average to .176. "If we're just waiting for Mike and Albert (Pujols) to do this, it's not going to happen," Scioscia said. "You cannot put every offensive woe that we have on Mike and Albert, because we have to be more than Mike and Albert. And we feel we are."