|
 On Tuesday night, however, Jays reliever Liam Hendriks was the man
of the moment.
Hendriks limited the Philadelphia Phillies to a single run after
entering the game with the bases loaded and none out in the fifth
inning. That set the stage for the Jays' five-run sixth, which
included Donaldson three-run shot and propelled Toronto to an 8-5
victory.
Donaldson, who also homered in the first, went 3-for-4 and drove in
four runs. It was his third multi-homer game of the season and the
sixth of his career, and leaves him with 33 homers and an AL-leading
91 RBIs this season.
"I'm in a position in the lineup that can do that," said Donaldson,
who hit second on Tuesday night. "Not saying I'm the only one that
can do that because there are a lot of guys in our lineup that can
(produce). But I'm in a position that I need to come through and I
have been able to."
Nobody seems surprised anymore.
"I'm not even going to say he's in the zone," Toronto starter R.A.
Dickey said. "I feel like that's how he always plays. He may be
perpetually in the zone, I don't know."
First baseman Edwin Encarnacion also homered in the sixth for the
Jays, who won for the 16th time in 19 games. They lead the AL
wild-card race, but remain a game behind the New York Yankees in the
AL East. The Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins 8-4 on Tuesday.
Right fielder Jeff Francoeur hit his 11th homer of the season for
the Phillies, who lost for the sixth time in seven games.
Francoeur was also the first batter Hendriks faced in the fifth,
after Philadelphia, leading 4-3, loaded the bases with none out
against Dickey.
Francoeur grounded into a double play to force in a run and give the
Phillies a 5-3 lead. Hendriks, who earned the victory to improve to
4-0, then struck out pinch hitter Ryan Howard to end the inning.
"I was glad I was just able to stop the bleeding a little bit,"
Hendriks said, "and we came out there and swung the bats well, and
Donaldson had a hell of a game again."
Toronto manager John Gibbons was more than willing to spread the
praise around.
"The key guy was Hendriks," he said, "coming in and limiting the
damage."
Ex-Phillie Ben Revere, Toronto's center fielder, led off the sixth
with a walk off reliever Elvis Araujo. He moved up on a bunt by
pinch hitter Cliff Pennington, one that was not ruled a sacrifice,
and scored when another pinch hitter, Chris Colabello, grounded a
single through the middle off Jeanmar Gomez (1-3).
Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki followed with another single, and
Donaldson hit Gomez's 3-0 fastball into the seats in left field,
giving Toronto a 7-5 lead.
"He has a good sinker so I wanted one up in the zone," Donaldson
said. "I was looking for location and trying to hit a ball in the
air. I didn't want to hit one on the ground and fortunately he left
one up."
Encarnacion, who extended his hitting streak to 15 games, hit his
solo homer came one out after Donaldson's blast.
[to top of second column] |
Roberto Osuna, the last of six Jays pitchers, worked a perfect ninth
for his 14th save.
Phillies starter Aaron Nola went five innings and allowed three runs
and four hits. The rookie right-hander struck out five and walked
four, his highest total in six major league starts.
"He was trying to make too many perfect pitches tonight," Phillies
interim manager Pete Mackanin said, "but he'll be fine. You can't
make too many mistakes against a lineup like that."
Dickey yielded five runs and nine hits in four innings. The veteran
knuckleballer struck out two and walked two. It was the first time
in 21 games a Blue Jays starter allowed more than three earned runs.
"I didn't have a real good one tonight," Dickey said of his
knuckler. "I was kind of fighting it all night."
Donaldson hit a one-out solo homer off Nola in the first. The last
five of his homers have come in the first inning, and Donaldson has
hit 10 in that inning in all.
Francoeur knotted it with a leadoff homer to center in the second,
but in the third Nola walked the based loaded, setting the stage for
a two-run single by left fielder Ezequiel Carrera. That gave Toronto
a 3-1 lead.
A two-out RBI single by Phillies third baseman Cesar Hernandez cut
the gap to 3-2 in the bottom of the third, and Philadelphia scored
twice in the fourth to take a 4-3 lead. A two-out RBI single by Cody
Asche deliver the inning's first run, and shortstop Freddy Galvis
followed with a run-scoring triple.
NOTES: Before the game, the Phillies placed 3B Maikel Franco on the
15-day disabled list with what general manager Ruben Amaro Jr.
described as a "very small non-displaced fracture" of a small bone
on the outside of his left wrist. Franco, hitting .277 with 13
homers and 48 RBIs in 77 games, was struck by a pitch from Arizona
RHP Jeremy Hellickson on Aug. 11, and sat out four games. Amaro said
normal recovery time for such an injury is two to four weeks, and
did not rule out Franco missing the rest of the season. ... The
Phillies recalled OF Aaron Altherr from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to
fill Franco's roster spot. ... When asked about a potential trade of
2B Chase Utley, Amaro said, "There's no mandate to move him and
there's no mandate to keep him. We'll stay open-minded." ...Toronto
selected the contract of OF Ezequiel Carrera from Triple-A Buffalo
before the game, replacing LHP Aaron Loup, who was optioned to
Buffalo on Sunday.
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