before Houston rallied behind Fitzpatrick

TORONTO -- The Toronto Blue Jays have put up some impressive numbers of late and the long ball is helping them get it done. Edwin Encarnacion hit two of Torontos season-high five home runs as the Blue Jays capped a two-game mini-sweep of Philadelphia by outscoring the Phillies 12-6 on Thursday at Rogers Centre. It was the second straight night that the Blue Jays had a double-digit run total as they extended their winning streak to five games. "Were some kinda hot right now," said Jays manager John Gibbons. Toronto (18-17) has hit at least one homer in eight straight games, a big reason why they have moved back over the .500 mark. Colby Rasmus, Juan Francisco and Adam Lind also went deep to help make a winner of R.A. Dickey (3-3). "Were swinging it good right now and everybody is feeding off each other," Gibbons said. "I would say right now its probably a good club to pitch for." Dickey had a few rough moments but his knuckleball was moving nicely and it regularly handcuffed the Phillies. He worked into the seventh inning and struck out a season-high eight batters. "Im making strides," he said. "I had a good (knuckler). I had one that was a swing-and-miss one tonight. It was comfortable out of my hand all night long." Former Blue Jay starter A.J. Burnett (2-2) was roughed up for six earned runs over six innings. He allowed nine hits and two walks while striking out four. "Balls ran over the plate tonight," Burnett said. "I wasnt on the corners at all. The hook was inconsistent. I had it at times. The bottom line is the balls werent on the corners, the ball was in the middle of the plate." Encarnacion set the tone early by blasting his 200th career homer in the second inning. "(Im) swinging at better pitches, (Im) more confident and (Im) feeling great at the plate," Encarnacion said through translator Luis Rivera. Rasmus hit a rainbow shot that barely cleared the wall by the right-field pole later in the frame. Lind added a two-run shot in the sixth inning as the Blue Jays pulled away. "You want to come in and stop the bleeding and set the tone and that wasnt there," Burnett said. Encarnacion added a two-run shot in the seventh and Francisco tagged a solo shot on the next pitch. Jose Reyes broke out of a slump as his ground-rule double in the third inning ended an 0-for-10 skid. He stole third and came home on a Jose Bautista sacrifice fly. Reyes was at it again in the fifth inning after he was hit by a pitch. The speedy shortstop -- who battled a hamstring problem last month -- stole second, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on a Bautista groundout. "You can tell hes feeling a lot more comfortable and he was able to turn it loose," Gibbons said. The Blue Jays have won their last eight meetings against Philadelphia (15-18). They will continue their nine-game homestand Friday with the opener of a four-game set against the Los Angeles Angels. Toronto, which clobbered the Phillies 10-0 a night earlier, outhit Philadelphia 13-10 in front of an announced crowd of 18,158. The Phillies opened the scoring in the second inning and scratched out singles runs in the fifth and the seventh. Ryan Howard hit a two-run shot off reliever Esmil Rogers in Philadelphias three-run ninth inning. Dickey allowed seven hits, three earned runs and walked three batters over 6 1-3 innings pitched. Notes: The game took three hours to play. ... Olympic curling champion Brad Jacobs was in attendance. ... Toronto optioned right-hander Chad Jenkins to triple-A Buffalo before the game. ... Bautista has reached base in all 35 games this season. ... It was Encarnacions 12th career multi-homer game. ... Howard has seven homers this season. ... Dustin McGowan (2-1) is scheduled to start for Toronto on Friday against Garrett Richards (3-0). ... It was the 20,000th game in franchise history for the Phillies. The team played its first game on May 1, 1883, dropping a 4-3 decision to the Providence Grays at Recreation Park. Adidas Ultra Boost Baratas . Markieff Morris and Marcus Morris, city natives, handled the catering for teammates that begged them for the tasty postgame feast. Adidas Ultra Boost 19 Baratas . The redshirt freshman finished the regular season with nearly 3,500 passing yards, and 35 touchdowns with another three on the ground while leading the Seminoles to the top of the BCS Rankings. http://www.baratasnmd.com/. A veteran of 16 NHL seasons, Prospals career was highlighted by him ranking fourth in points scored, third in assists and sixth in games played among all Czech Republic born players in NHL history. Adidas Ultra Boost 4.0 Baratas .J. -- New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning is going to start the off-season training program with a surgically repaired left ankle. Adidas Ultra Boost 4.0 Comprar . He says he will have the operation Wednesday and be ready in time for training camp in September. Bernier missed five games in March due to the injury.EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- With his team desperate to win, Tom Coughlin lightened the mood for the New York Giants during the week. There was music -- certainly not from the 68-year-old coachs era -- at practice. A punt catching competition was held and there were some laughs. It turned to smiles and a W on Sunday against the Houston Texans with some old-fashioned football. Rashad Jennings ran for a career-high 176 yards and a touchdown and Eli Manning threw two TD passes as the Giants overcame some early mistakes and beat the suddenly error-prone Texans 30-17. The victory not only put some life back into the Giants (1-2), it also ended any chance of a second straight 0-6 start for Coughlins team, which has missed the playoffs the past two seasons. "Its good to get that first win," said Manning, who was 21 of 28 for 234 yards and no interceptions. "We didnt want to go through (0-6) again. The coaches and everybody didnt get too uptight. With coach keeping his cool, bringing a little excitement to practice, it helped the players just relax. We said: Its Sunday. Just go play football. Dont worry about being perfect or doing everything exactly. Just play the game you love." Manning joked about the music played on Friday. "We just stole it off Coach Coughlins iPad," he said. "You know, early 90s rap." The Giants got a lot of contributions. Victor Cruz made a 26-yard touchdown catch, his first since Game 4 of last season, and danced the salsa. The defence intercepted three of Ryan Fitzpatricks passes, and the special teams unit blocked a punt, setting up Mannings second TD. "This was huge for us, knowing we had to get this game and get this one under our belts with a short week and not wanting to look ahead," said Cruz, who quipped that he had to remember how to salsa after his score. "We had to take care of this one and get ready for Washington (Thursday night)." Fitzpatrick, who had not thrown an interception this season, threw a 44-yard scoring pass to Damaris Johnson and ran for another score for the Texans (2-1), who played without halfback Arian Foster (hamstring). Houston came in tied for the league lead with a plus-5 turnover differential. The Giants were at the other end of the spectrum at minus-6 with no takeaways. "t;Were not going to win any games when I play like that, especially in the first half with the turnovers," said Fitzpatrick, who was 20 of 34 for 289 yards.dddddddddddd "Sometimes interceptions happen, but it was just poor play by me." On Sunday, the Giants won the turnover battle, got pressure from their front four and dominated the Texans defensive front in rushing for 193 yards in a much-needed win. New York outgained Houston 262-83 in the first half in taking a 14-0 lead on the touchdown pass to Cruz and a 1-yard run by Jennings, which was set up by Antrel Rolles 25-yard interception return to the Texans 2. The lead should have been a larger. Tight end Larry Donnell fumbled at the Texans 4 in the first quarter after a reception, and Pro Bowl long snapper Zak DeOssie rolled one past holder Steve Weatherford on a short field-goal attempt in the second. Houston added to its woes early in the third quarter, going for a first down on a fourth-and-1 from its own 46 and failing. Brown hit a 39-yard field goal to make it 17-0 before Houston rallied behind Fitzpatrick. Three passes to DeAndre Hopkins set up a field goal, and Johnsons TD closed the gap to 17-10 with 2:13 left in the quarter. Jennings, who carried 34 times, had three rushes for 28 yards as the Giants drove for a field goal to extend the lead to 20-10 early in the fourth. Damontre Moore blocked Shane Lechlers punt to give New York the ball at the Houston 29, and Manning and Fells hooked up for touchdown for the second straight week. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie intercepted Fitzpatrick on the next series, setting up Browns final field goal. NOTES: Jennings previous career high was 150 yards vs. Houston last season while playing for Oakland. ... The Texans had not allowed a sack in their first two games. The Giants got two and had five quarterback hurries. ... Jameel McClain, who replaced Jon Beason at middle linebacker had a team-high 11 tackles and half a sack. ... New Jersey native Brian Cushing had a game-high 17 tackles. ... J.J. Watt had a sack and two tackles for losses. ... Alfred Blue had 78 yards on 13 carries, starting for Foster. ... Prince Amukamara also had an interception for New York. ... Johnathan Joseph had a fumble recovery for the Texans. ' ' '