Frankly, we've seen this before

TORONTO - It was Boston 9, Chicago 8, but ultimately, the more important numbers on that day, Sept. 15, 1996, were: Frank Thomas 3, Mo Vaughn 2.

Pretty good day for both sluggers. And for Thomas, it was the one three-homer game of his career, three solo shots off the middle-aged (in baseball terms) Tim Wakefield.

Never had he duplicated the feat, not even as he reached the 500-homer plateau. Until last night.

Despite a crazy swing or two - including the one immediately preceding his first home run - Thomas hit three for the second time in his career, reaching No. 512 to tie Ernie Banks and Eddie Mathews for 18th all-time, in the Blue Jays' 6-1 win over the Sox at Rogers Centre.

With two more off Wakefield (two-run shot in the first, solo in the sixth) and another off reliever Kyle Snyder (two-run in the eighth), Thomas added another highlight to a career that's skirting a downturn, 18 years in.

"That was a long time ago," said Thomas, sounding every bit the wise veteran, of the first three-homer game. "I remember early in my career. It was funny because Mo Vaughn's a very good friend of mine. He hit two that day. We were really going at each other. We were talking about who could do it. He didn't get that last at-bat.

"It's one of those things that you cherish. I don't take anything for granted anymore."

For the record, Thomas finished that game 3 for 4 with three RBIs and four runs. Vaughn went 3 for 5 with five RBIs and three runs. But Vaughn hasn't played baseball in four years. And Thomas? Even with a slow start to the season, he's heated up as it winds down.

Even though his other three-homer game was against Wakefield, the knuckleballer has generally had the upper hand in their matchups. Coming into the game, Thomas was 10 for 45 (.222) with four home runs and eight RBIs off Wakefield. Now, make that 12 for 48 (.250) with six homers and 11 RBIs.

"Over the whole haul, he's got the best of me," Thomas said. "Today a couple flattened out, that's all. That happens with knuckleball pitchers sometimes.

"He threw me a couple that I had extremely ugly swings on. There were two of those tonight. When he's indoors, he'll make you look bad all day long. The wind can affect his knuckleball from time to time. But he's always been able to adjust."

And it helped, certainly, that despite the 64 degree game-time temperature - it felt cooler - the roof remained open. Even Thomas expressed surprise at the decision, though Wakefield's dominance in domes might have had something to do with the night sky over the field.

It was under that sky that Thomas took a curtain call, having become the fifth player this year with a three-homer game (along with Carlos Lee, Brad Wilkerson, Alfonso Soriano, and Justin Morneau) and the first Sox opponent since Vernon Wells in May of last season.

According to Blue Jays manager John Gibbons, it's something that hasn't happened all that often on his watch. Just twice, as he recalls. Once when Carlos Delgado hit four. And last night.

"I haven't seen that here. It's good to see," Gibbons said. "We ought to do that more often."

Thomas would be happy to oblige. With his five RBIs, he moved within nine of his season's goal of 100.

"This is one of those days that everything clicked," Thomas said. "Just happy. Just really happy. Even though we know we're going home in 13 days, I still want to finish strong."

Amalie Benjamin can be reached at abenjamin@globe.com.