MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Toronto Blue Jays are finding their swing

— and wins are following.Randal Grichuk Reggie Sanders Jersey , Justin Smoak and Teoscar Hernandez hit home runs and the Blue Jays beat the Minnesota Twins 7-4 Thursday.Eric Sogard added a three-run double for Toronto, who took three of four at Target Field.“Not only are we scoring … but we’re getting some loud outs,” Grichuk said. “Early on we kind of had some quick at-bats, balls put in play or strikeouts quick. Now we’re battling, putting together good at-bats, swing at good pitches.”Toronto is hitting .217 this season, 12th in the American League; since April 9, however, the Blue Jays are hitting .256 in winning five of nine.“We score seven runs today they all swinging the bat pretty good right now,” manager Charlie Montoyo said. “Now if Sogard stays hot, you’ve got Sogard and (Freddy) Galvis getting on base for those three guys. That’s a good combination.”That trio would be Grichuk, Smoak and Hernandez, the team’s 3-4-5 hitters.Smoak hit a no-doubt, two-run shot and Sogard added a bases-clearing double as part of a five-run fourth that put the Blue Jays ahead 6-3. Smoak has reached base in 19 of his last 35 plate appearances, and Sogard, called up Monday http://www.redsfanproshop.com/authentic-cliff-pennington-jersey , was 6 for 12 in the series.Grichuk hit a solo home run in the first and Hernandez had a solo drive in the eighth. Hernandez was 6 for 15 with two home runs in the series.Struggling with his cutter, starter Clay Buchholz allowed three runs on six hits in 4 2-3 innings before Thomas Pannone, Ryan Tepera, Tim Mayza and Joe Biagini (1-1) combined to allow one run in 3 1-3 innings. Ken Giles earned his sixth save in seven chances with a scoreless ninth.The Toronto bullpen allowed two runs in 13 2-3 innings during the series.Eddie Rosario homered twice for the Twins, against a right- and left-handed pitcher.“Some of the stuff he does you go, ‘Wow. That’s pretty impressive,'” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “To come in facing the lefty (Mayza) and put a swing on that first pitch, people just don’t do that because it’s borderline impossible. You just don’t see things like that. But he does things that other people don’t do or can’t do.”Michael Pineda (2-1) had his worst start of the season, allowing six earned runs and seven hits in 3 2-3 innings. He struck out one batter, threw a wild pitch and allowed two home runs to equal his combined total from his first three starts.Rosario homered and Willians Astudillo and Jonathan Schoop both ended 0-for-15 stretches with singles in a three-run second inning for the Twins.Ryne Harper tossed 3 1-3 innings of scoreless relief for Minnesota.STILL STEALINGWith a second-inning swipe, Minnesota’s Byron Buxton extended his team record for consecutive stolen bases to 33. His last time caught stealing was May 23, 2017, at Baltimore. Vince Coleman holds the MLB-record with 50 consecutive stolen bases in 1988-89.VLAD WATCHAfter missing most of spring training because of a strained left oblique muscle, prized Blue Jays prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has had his playing time with Triple-A Buffalo cut into by rainy April weather.Guerrero hit a towering home run for the Bisons on Wednesday, giving him two homers, seven hits and six RBIs in just 17 at-bats. Though Guerrero’s promotion appears to be close Joe Morgan Jersey , assistant general manager Joe Sheehan said this week that the team is still evaluating when to make the move.Montoyo added no clarity, saying, “It could be any day; it could be a month.”TRAINER’S ROOMBlue Jays: Tepera (elbow inflammation) was reinstated from the 10-day disabled list. To make room, Toronto designated RHP Javy Guerra for assignment.UP NEXTBlue Jays: Start a three-game series in Oakland on Friday with RHP Marcus Stroman (0-3, 1.99) to face the A’s RHP Aaron Brooks (2-1, 4.24).Twins: A six-game road trip starts Friday in Baltimore with RHP Jose Berrios (2-1, 2.30) scheduled to face Orioles RHP Alex Cobb (0-0. 3.18). Berrios has allowed seven earned runs in 27 1.3 innings. FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Alex Cora guided the Boston Red Sox to a franchise-record 108 wins and a World Series victory last season, and then he reported to his second spring training as a major league manager as if nothing had changed.Still just 43, Cora has a chance to be the first Red Sox manager to win back-to-back championships in more than 100 years.And he’s approaching it with the same, unruffled demeanor as when he was a rookie.“I think that’s why we were so consistent last year,” utilityman Brock Holt said this week as the team made the transition from workouts to the exhibition season.“If we won, we came in here, turned the music on, showered, went home. If we lost Dave Concepcion Jersey , we didn’t turn the music on,” Holt said. “That’s what helped us to be so consistent. It wasn’t any different; there was no panic. He stayed with his plan.”A native of Puerto Rico who is the first minority manager in franchise history and one of the youngest ever to run the Red Sox dugout, Cora didn’t need much time to figure things out in Boston. After losing their opener, they won nine straight games and 17 of the next 18.They finished the regular season 108-54 — the best record in franchise history, and eight games ahead of the rival Yankees. They never lost more than three in a row, and their worst stretch of six losses in eight games came in August after they were already 50 games above .500 with a double-digit lead in the division.Through it all, Cora never changed.“Over the course of 162 games, things aren’t always going to go well,” outfielder Andrew Benintendi said. “He stayed even-keeled.”But never distant.While some managers looked at the clubhouse as the players’ domain, Cora will be out among them, joking around or just checking in. It doesn’t hurt that he is only eight years older than first baseman Steve Pearce, and was teammates with second baseman Dustin Pedroia on the Boston team that won it all in 2007.Holt called Cora “one of the smartest baseball people” he’s met, and noted that the manager’s ability to speak both Spanish and English also helps him relate to many of the team’s Hispanic players.“He’s one of the best communicators I’ve ever been around in the game,” Holt said. “As players, we always know what to expect, what we need to do. You see him in here http://www.redsfanproshop.com/authentic-cliff-pennington-jersey , joking around with guys. He talks to everyone. I enjoy being around someone who enjoys being around us.”The season-long effort to communicate paid off after Game 3 of the AL Division Series against the Yankees, when Holt became the first player in major league history to hit for the cycle in a postseason game.Cora texted him that night to say he would be benched for Game 4 in favor of Ian Kinsler.“I expected it before it even happened,” Holt said. “I didn’t think anything about it. We all knew what’s happening, and what we were trying to do.”Kinsler doubled in the game’s first run and the Red Sox advanced to the AL Championship Series.And Holt was back in the lineup for Game 1 against the Houston Astros. Boston lost that one before winning the next six games, taking a 2-0 lead in the World Series before the Dodgers slowed them down with an 18-inning victory in Game 3. The Red Sox finished Los Angeles off in five games.Cora is the fifth Red Sox manager to win it all in his first season in Boston, but the first ever to win as a managerial rookie. His .667 winning percentage is also the best in franchise history.Asked this week if there was anything he learned last year that he would do differently in his second season, Cora noted that it was coach Ramon Vazquez’s wife’s birthday, and that was an unexpected setback for the staff in 2018.“He forgot about it last year,” Cora said with a laugh. “So we made a point to FaceTime her. She’s in California, and we have a cake and balloons and everything. So we’re making adjustments on the fly.“We made sure he didn’t forget this year,” Cora said. “Yeah, I mean, teamwork.”