Toronto 10, Arizona 4
When: 3:40 PM ET, Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Where: Chase Field, Phoenix, Arizona
Temperature:
Indoors
Umpires:
Home -
Dana DeMuth, 1B -
Mike Estabrook, 2B -
Ramon De Jesus, 3B -
Greg Gibson
Attendance:
20076
By The Sports Xchange
PHOENIX -- Toronto Blue Jays slugger Josh Donaldson has not played at Chase Field much, so he was not sure if his homer in the first inning had the distance. It did, of course. He seems to be at his best in interleague play.
Donaldson doubled, homered and drove in three runs and Edwin Encarnacion belted his 10th career homer at Chase Field in the Blue Jays' 10-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday afternoon.
In 17 interleague games this season, 2015 AL MVP Donaldson is hitting .439 with six doubles, four homers and 15 RBIs.
"He was the MVP last year and there are reasons for that," Toronto manager Jon Gibbons said. "I almost think he's having a better year this year. I don't know what the numbers say but I think he is defensively more consistent this year.
"We've got some sluggers in the lineup, but he's a pure hitter, too."
Donaldson gave the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead two batters into the game, when he followed Darwin Barney's single with his 24th homer of the season.
Donaldson's double off the 25-foot fence above the 413-foot sign in left-center field drove in a run to make it 6-1 and knock Arizona starter Patrick Corbin (4-9) out with two outs in the sixth.
"I didn't hit the ball great, but was able to hit it on a pretty good trajectory which was able to carry that far," Donaldson said of his homer, which helped the Jays cap a two-game sweep.
"It's nice to finish strong here."
Tuffy Gosewisch hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning and Jean Segura had three hits for the Diamondbacks (40-55), who have lost two in a row and seven of nine. They are 17-35 at home.
Encarnacion capped a four-run eighth inning with his 26th homer of the season, his ninth in his last eight games at Chase Field. He leads the major leagues with 85 RBIs.
The homer was measured at 469 feet.
"That was a bomb," Donaldson said. "A strong man."
Barney had two hits and three RBIs, Devon Travis had three hits and Troy Tulowitzki and Kevin Pillar had two hits and an RBI as the Blue Jays (54-40) won for the 11th time in 14 games.
Right-hander Marcus Stroman (8-4) gave up one run and eight hits in eight innings for his first victory on the road since beating Minnesota 3-1 on May 18. Stroman struck out six and did not walk a batter. All the hits off him were singles, and four were in the infield.
"I felt strong today and I felt strong in my previous start," said Stroman, who gave up six earned runs in 4 2/3 innings of a no-decision at Oakland.
It's just a matter of competing and commanding the stuff out there."
Corbin gave up six runs (five earned) and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings. He is 0-7 with a 7.23 ERA in 10 home starts. He struck out four and walked two.
"Early, he was not getting ahead in the count and obviously got hurt," Arizona manager Chip Hale said. "These are just not hitters you can get behind. They can narrow their pitch selection. You look where the balls were on the plate, just too center cut for them."
After Donaldson's homer, Arizona got one run back in the last of the first inning when Segura and Michael Bourn singled, and Segura scored when right fielder Junior Lake threw the ball past third base. Bourn had two hits.
Toronto pulled away from there.
NOTES: Toronto LF Michael Saunders (personal) was not with the team on Wednesday but is expected to return Friday, when the Blue Jays open a nine-game homestand with a three-game series against Seattle. ... Toronto RHP Marco Estrada (back) is scheduled to start Friday, the first day he is eligible to return from the disabled list. Estrada leads major league starters with a .196 batting average on balls in play, according to FanGraphs. He led the majors with a .216 BABIP in 2015. Those are the two lowest figures since at least 2000. ... Arizona RHP Zack Greinke (oblique) threw off a mound for the first time since his injury Wednesday and said "more than likely" he will need a rehab start before returning to the rotation. When asked if he was frustrated, Greinke said, "That's the perfect word."... Arizona RHP Shelby Miller gave up three runs on four hits and struck out 10 in 6 2/3 innings for Triple-A Reno on Tuesday, his first start since being optioned at the All-Star break. Miller had a no-hitter through five innings, and the D-backs reported his fastball registered at 96 mph.
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
Toronto
|
13 |
2 |
26 |
.333 |
15 |
5 |
10 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
Arizona
|
11 |
1 |
15 |
.306 |
11 |
8 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |