Donaldson effective from No. 2 spot

TORONTO -- Blue Jays manager John Gibbons will probably want to stick with his new lineup for a little while after the Blue Jays erupted for 12 runs in their 12-7 victory over the Rays on Wednesday night at Rogers Centre.

Prior to the game, Gibbons moved Josh Donaldson into the second spot of the batting order. The decision paid immediate dividends when Donaldson singled in the first and came around to score on a two-run homer by Jose Bautista.

Donaldson finished the night 3-for-5 with a pair of singles, a double, three RBIs and a pair of runs scored. It was his fourth multi-hit game as a Blue Jay and his second in as many days.

"Donaldson I thought might be a good guy there, thought we'd give him a try now," Gibbons said of moving Donaldson from the fifth spot. "You always like your top hitters there. They might get that extra at-bat. He's up there setting the table. He's a threat."

The Blue Jays' offense responded by scoring at least two runs in the first five innings of the game for the first time in franchise history. They were all over the Rays from start to finish after scoring a total of three runs over the previous two games.

It was a breakout night at the plate but also not that surprising, considering offense is a strength of this team and Toronto had scored more than 10 twice already.

Even so, the lineup change came after Dalton Pompey struggled during his brief audition as a No. 2 hitter. Pompey entered the game with four hits in 30 at-bats this season, but he did hit a solo homer on Wednesday night and finished 2-for-4.

Video: TB@TOR: Pompey crushes a solo homer to right

"We needed a game like this. We haven't scored too many runs lately, and hopefully we can continue this tomorrow," Blue Jays left-hander Mark Buehrle said.