The Los Angeles Dodgers used a six-run eighth inning to cruise past the Toronto Blue Jays 8-4 Thursday night at the Rogers Centre.

Second baseman Jeff Kent led the way with a home run and catcher Russell Martin added two RBIs as the Dodgers took the rubber match of the three-game interleague series from the Jays.

Jays shortstop John McDonald, right, can't beat the throw to Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Nomar Garciaparra during the fifth inning Thursday night at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.
(Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

With Toronto leading 3-2 in the eighth, manager John Gibbons turned to reliever Casey Janssen to preserve the advantage for starter Shaun Marcum.

But the right-hander allowed all six runs in the inning, giving up five hits and a walk.

While Toronto added a run in the bottom of the eighth, Dodgers closer Takashi Saito retired the Jays in the ninth.

Marcum delivered another solid outing for the Jays, surrendering only two runs in six innings of work.

Reliever Scott Downs followed suit with 1 1/3 scoreless innings and then gave way to Janssen after retiring one batter in the eighth.

Janssen immediately loaded the bases by giving up a single to Nomar Garciaparra and a double to Kent before walking Luis Gonzalez.

Martin, of Chelsea, Que., followed with a two-run double that gave the Dodgers a 4-3 lead.

"You know in that situation he's going to have to throw a strike sooner or later," said Martin. "I was just waiting for a pitch I could do something with."

The inning got worse for Janssen, who allowed an RBI single by Olmedo Seanez and a Matt Kemp RBI double prior to leaving the game to the disapproval of the Toronto crowd.

"I told him to keep his head up, don't listen to those boos, man," said Gibbons. "You've been pitching your butt off."

Numbers up

The six earned runs were one more than Janssen had given up in all of his previous 31 appearances this season.

"It still sucks," said Janssen, taking no solace in his excellent numbers. "You never want to give it up, this was a big game for us and we had the lead with five outs to go. I just wasn't there tonight."

Tony Abreu and Rafael Furcal then smacked singles off reliever Jason Frasor, giving Los Angeles an 8-3 lead.

"If you're paying attention you know that he's been one of the best relievers in baseball," Gibbons said of Janssen. "You look at what he's done, we're not worried about that."

The Jays added a cosmetic run in the bottom of the eighth when Matt Stairs scored on catcher Gregg Zaun's sacrifice fly to right.

Second baseman Aaron Hill staked Toronto to a 2-0 advantage with a two-run home run in the second off Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley.

Kent replied with a two-run shot of his own in the sixth, taking Marcum deep over the left-field wall.

Zaun put Toronto back in front 3-2 in the bottom of the inning with his first RBI sacrifice fly of the game before the Dodgers took over.

The loss leaves the Jays (34-37) in need of a sweep against the Colorado Rockies this weekend if they are to attain a team goal of a .500 record during this nine-game homestand.

With files from the Canadian Press