TORONTO _ It has become rote to mention the Padres' recent, uncanny consistency in hitting baseballs a long way, but history beckoned Wednesday at Rogers Centre.
Adam Rosales lined a shot to left in the third, and with that, San Diego had matched a feat first accomplished 75 years ago. Later, Brett Wallace sent another drive over a wall. Alex Dickerson did the same, continuing a ridiculous tear. The three blasts buoyed a 23-year-old rookie pitcher and helped the Padres wrap a multi-country road trip on a positive note.
Their 8-4 victory over the Blue Jays saw them homer for the 25th consecutive game, tying the National League record. The Padres are just the second NL team and only the fifth club overall to have such a stretch, joining the 1941 New York Yankees (25), 1994 Detroit Tigers (25), 1998 Atlanta Braves (25) and the 2002 Texas Rangers, who set the all-time mark by going deep in 27 straight contests.
"Our chase percentages are down outside the strike zone, we're forcing guys into the zone more often, we're walking more than we were early in the season, kind of making our offense turn over more than we were early in the season," Padres manager Andy Green said. "Those things, you can control. Hitting the ball out of the ballpark 25 straight days, it's a borderline fluke. It's just one of those things that happen. We don't think too much about it."
The Padres, who finished 3-7 on their three-city trek, can move to within a game of the record Friday at Petco Park. The Cincinnati Reds are scheduled to start left-hander Brandon Finnegan, who has allowed 22 home runs in 20 games this season.
"We have a lot of offensive talent," said Dickerson, who became the first Padres rookie to homer in four consecutive games. "Every single guy is a threat to take you deep, for the most part. There's a lot of depth here, including Triple-A and here, that there's a lot on the horizon offensively."
Wednesday, Padres right-hander Luis Perdomo permitted four runs over 5 2/3 innings, a line belying his progress. For the first time in a start this season, he did not yield a run before the fourth. A quartet of two-out hits chased him from the mound in the sixth, but none of those knocks left the yard.
Rosales' third-inning hit off knuckleballer R.A. Dickey did, hurtling into the outfield seats for a two-run shot.
Dickey was stung in the fourth, too. He issued a two-out walk to Ryan Schimpf before Christian Bethancourt doubled. The Blue Jays committed two errors on the play. Schimpf scored, and then so did Bethancourt, tallying the proverbial Little League home run. San Diego led, 4-0.
"It was fun," Bethancourt, the Padres' catcher, said with a smile. "I got tired, but I'm glad we scored those two runs."
Wallace led off the fifth with a solo home run.
"It's nice to see everybody contribute," Green said. "It's nice to get Adam Rosales in the game and see him swing the bat like that. It's nice to see Brett Wallace get into the mix. He's been through a rough stretch, and now he's coming back."
In the sixth, Bethancourt doubled for the second time in as many at-bats. A run scored, for a 6-1 lead. Dickey was lifted from the game.
The barrage was on again in the first at-bat of the eighth. Dickerson came to the plate having homered in each of the last three games. Reacting to a 1-1 slider from fellow lefty Franklin Morales, he went low and golfed a drive that just cleared the fence in right field.
"My whole life I've hit lefties well," Dickerson said. "I never really saw the difference between a righty and lefty. ... I guess in today's game, with the amount of platooning there is, it is a positive note that I'm a guy that does not need to be taken out of the lineup just because a lefty is in the game."
A day earlier, the Padres had ensured everyday playing time for Dickerson by trading veteran outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. to the very team they were facing. Wednesday, Upton ignited the Blue Jays' rally in the sixth. The rebuilding Padres, though, have adopted a longer-term focus.
Dickerson, if he sustains his production, should figure prominently in their future plans. Since being recalled in late June, the Poway native is 22-for-79 (.297) with four doubles, a triple and five home runs.
"He looks like a video game," Bethancourt said. "Alex has been amazing, and now every time that he's in the batter's box, you think he's going to hit a homer."
Perdomo, too, has been impressive of late. The Rule 5 righty struck out the side in the first, induced three groundouts in the second and fetched three fly outs in the third. The Blue Jays got to him in the sixth, but over the first five innings, he held them to a run on two hits and a walk. He struck out four.
Wednesday marked just the second time Perdomo failed to record a quality start in his last six starts. But the components were all there. Perdomo retired nine straight batters at one point. His bowling-ball sinker sat in the mid-90s.
"I think I have good pitches," Perdomo said through an interpreter. "That's what's going to get it done. If I have good pitches, all I need to do is keep working and attack hitters."
According to Bethancourt, Blue Jays first baseman Edwin Encarnacion took particular notice of Perdomo. The three-time All-Star went 0-for-2 with a walk against the Padres starter.
"He's like, 'Who is he, where'd he come from?' " Bethancourt said. "I'm like, 'Well, we got him in the Rule 5 (draft), he came from Single-A. He never pitched Double-A, Triple-A.' He's like, 'Just tell him to keep doing it. It's great.' "
Bethancourt added: "I haven't told Perdomo, I don't want him to get his head big."
