Toronto Blue Jays catcher John Buck (right) is congratulated by teammates Lyle Overbay and Travis Snider (left) after hitting a three run homer during fourth inning AL action against the Oakland Athletics in Toronto on Thurday April 29, 2010.FRANK GUNN/The Canadian Press
It was another night of baseball for the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre where a sea of empty blue seats once again greeted the players as they took the field to play the Oakland Athletics.
So serene was the atmosphere within the mostly deserted dome that when the guy way up in the third deck began his ritual of hollering "Hi" to all the Blue Jay players when they first came out on the field Aaron Hill was able to hear when his name was called out and he gave a wave.
It was a glorious night for baseball with the roof pulled back at the start of the game but apparently nobody in Toronto seems to care with just 10,721 on hand for the event.
Too bad as the few who bothered to show up were treated to a three home-run effort by Toronto catcher John Buck as the Blue Jays (11-12) stormed back to lay claim a 6-3 victory over the Athletics (12-11) in the first of a four-game series.
The victory snapped a five-game losing skid for the Jays.
Buck came into the contest in a miserable slump - 0-for-8 over his last three games that helped dip his batting average on the year to a lowly .155.
Before the game, Buck was taking extra batting practice on the field with pitching coach Bruce Walton on the mound while manager Cito Gaston hovered close by, offering his thoughts.
Hitting coach Dwayne Murphy has also been working with Buck the last several days to get him to set up faster for the pitch and all the extra work certainly paid off.
Buck enjoyed his first three-run home run game of his eight-year career, knocking in five of Toronto's six runs in the process.
"I'd do it every day if I could get those results," Buck said.
Buck and Travis Snider stroked back-to-back home runs in the third inning off Oakland starter Justin Duchscherer, just the second time the team that leads the American League in home runs has done that this season.
That cut the Oakland lead to 3-2.
Buck got busy again in the fourth when he launched a three-run blast to left off Oakland reliever Jerry Blevins that put Toronto in front 5-2.
His third came in the sixth off Oakland pitcher Craig Breslow and Buck was afforded a nice standing ovation by small gathering as he rounded the bases.
"I've been getting pitches to hit," Buck said. "I've been fouling them straight back and then swinging at the nasty pitches and missing the ones I should be hitting.
"I was just concentrating on getting my foot down early and getting my hands ready and I got a hold of three."
Buck was definitely thinking yard in his final at-bat in the eighth inning, taking three mighty hacks (fouling off the third) before popping out to right field.
"I'll take the three I guess," Buck said with a smile.
As for Hill, he is still waiting to emerge from his batting funk that has seen his average dip to .152 after he went 0-for-1 last night with three walks.
A year ago at this same juncture in the season, Hill was already sitting on five home runs and 20 runs-batted-in with a sizzling .365 batting average.
This season his routine has been interrupted by a stint on the 15-day disabled list that has robbed him of his timing. Last night was just his eighth game since his return.
"I knew it was going to be that way," Hill said. "You don't just jump in after missing a couple of weeks and get right back on schedule."