A's Clobber Jays With 6 Dingers

The sky was filled with dark clouds and the air was heavy, just the kind of weather players say usually makes it difficult to hit homers at the Oakland Coliseum.

Usually.

Scott Spiezio and Matt Stairs each homered twice and drove in four runs, and two Oakland teammates added solo homers as the Athletics beat the Toronto Blue Jays 10-5 Tuesday.

"During batting practice, it was cold and the ball wasn't going anywhere," A's manager Art Howe said. "It certainly did during the game."

Spiezio hit a three-run homer in the first and had a solo shot, his ninth of the season, in the third. It was the first multihomer game of his career and tied his career high for RBI.

Stairs' first homer was a solo shot in the third, immediately before Spiezio's second. Stairs then hit a three-run shot in the seventh, his 23rd of the season.

It was the second multihomer game of the season for Stairs, the fifth of his career.

Ryan Christenson added his fourth homer of the season and Jason Giambi had his 18th, a 426-foot shot to right center in the fifth.

"The weather was terrible for homers. When it's overcast, the ball doesn't really carry very well," Giambi said. "Just about the only thing we were hitting today was mistakes."

Toronto starter Woody Williams (9-8) allowed six runs and six hits -- four of them homers -- in three innings. Williams, pitching a day before his 32nd birthday, failed to last five innings for the first time this season.

"I just didn't hit my spots. I tried to go inside and the ball went outside," said Williams, who has lost his last four decisions. "I don't know what else to do. I'll try anything possible. I'm just in a funk right now."

Jimmy Haynes (9-5 tied the A'S season high with 10 strikeouts, including three of Kevin Brown, while allowing four runs and 11 hits in 5 2/3 innings. Haynes is 4-0 against Toronto in his career.

"I never want to give up 11 hits, but I gave up those 11 hits and still came out of there with a win," Haynes said. "The strikeouts came mostly when I had guys on base. I just concentrated a little more."

Toronto's Jose Canseco homered for the second straight game, a solo shot in the first. It was his 34th of the season and the 385th of his career, tying him with Dwight Evans for 33rd place on the career list.

Shannon Stewart had an RBI triple off the right-field wall in the third and added a two-run single in the sixth that knocked out Haynes. Brown hit a solo homer in the eighth.

Notes