Friars pile on 3 homers in finale victory vs. Jays

TORONTO — The Padres avoided a three-game sweep in their first series north of the border, and it should come as no surprise that home runs were the main reason why.

Adam Rosales, Brett Wallace and Alex Dickerson each went deep in San Diego’s 8-4 victory over the Blue Jays on Wednesday afternoon at Rogers Centre. Christian Bethancourt added a Little League home run after he doubled in the fourth but was able to keep running thanks to a pair of Toronto errors on the play.

All nine players in San Diego’s starting lineup reached base at least once, and the Padres have now homered in a National League-record 25 consecutive games, which is a franchise record and the longest in the Majors since 2002. Texas holds the all-time record with home runs in 27 straight games.

“We have a lot of offensive talent,” said Dickerson, who has homered in four straight. “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.”

Toronto knuckleballer R.A. Dickey was charged with the loss after he allowed seven runs (six earned) on four hits and four walks over 5 2/3 innings. He made this start on three days’ rest, because Toronto wanted to use right-hander Marco Estrada in the series opener vs. Baltimore on Friday night at Rogers Centre.

“Looking back at tape, sometimes they’re pretty good pitches,” said Dickey, who has allowed 26 home runs in 22 starts this season. “Like the one Wallace hit out today was a good one that knuckled down late, he just kind of dove down and got it, a wall-scraper out. … One will come out of your hand, and it won’t do much, and the next one will be like the best one you’ve ever thrown. Just have to have a short-term memory and keep going.”

Kevin Pillar provided one of the lone bright spots on offense for the Blue Jays, as he went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. With the loss, Toronto dropped to 2 1/2 games back of the Orioles for first place in the American League East, pending the outcome of Baltimore’s game vs. the Rockies on Wednesday night.

MOMENTS THAT MATTEREDEverybody hits: The Padres’ power has come from everywhere during their home run streak, as evidenced by Rosales and Wallace — typically bench players — going yard Wednesday. During the 25-game stretch, 10 players have gone deep. As he always does after home runs, Rosales sprinted around the basepaths during his third-inning roundtripper — and he actually came within about 30 feet of …

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