TORONTO -- It's all about the starting pitching.

The Toronto Blue Jays feel good about their rotation and the Detroit Tigers would like theirs to get better.

That was apparent on Sunday after the Blue Jays breezed to a 6-1 victory over the Tigers.

R.A. Dickey, who allowed one run in seven innings, was backed by a two-run single by Josh Thole and a three-run homer by Josh Donaldson.

"We need to pitch a little bit better," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "Our starting pitching needs to be better. If we can get some health in the starting rotation that would obviously be a big boost."

Jordan Zimmermann and Daniel Norris currently are on the disabled list.

"It's been a little bit of a roller-coaster at times but for the most part we've been playing pretty well, and it starts with our starting pitching," Donaldson said. "We feel pretty good where we're at right now."

The Blue Jays (51-40) finished an 11-game homestand that led to the All-Star break with an 8-3 record, and the Tigers (46-43) finished their 11-game road trip with a 6-5 mark. Toronto won three contests in the four-game series against Detroit.

Dickey (7-9) allowed five hits and two walks and struck out five before Jesse Chavez replaced him to start the eighth.

"Felt strong today," Dickey said. "It's great to see so many guys contribute, too. It was a huge hit for us when Josh (Thole) hit that ball and scored two runs, it gave us some breathing room. And Josh (Donaldson) does what Josh does. ... I'd say we're in a better position now than we have been in the past."

Detroit starter Anibal Sanchez (5-10) allowed eight hits, two walks and five runs in four innings. The right-hander struck out six.

"You look at his outings and it's one mistake here, one mistake there," Tigers catcher James McCann said. "Today, it was the ball to Thole that we left up in the zone and the ball to Donaldson that we left in the middle."

"I want to make the second half strong," Sanchez said. "Right now I can say I had the worst first half of my whole career."

The Blue Jays took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on Thole's two-out, two-run single. It scored Troy Tulowitzki and Kevin Pillar, who started the inning with singles. Justin Smoak walked with one out to load the bases.

"It's been a grind for me offensively but to come through and get a hit, two RBIs, and then the next time to walk and turn the order over, it felt good today," said Thole, who is the personal catcher for Dickey, a knuckleballer. "Any time you can help the team offensively is always a relief."

Donaldson's 23rd homer of the season put the Blue Jays into a 5-0 lead. It scored Thole, who walked with two out, and Ezequiel Carrera, who singled. That set up Donaldson and the Blue Jays third baseman, who was used as designated hitter on Sunday, drilled an 0-1 fastball to left-center.

The homer gave Donaldson 80 runs scored, which made him the sixth player in American League history to score 80 or more runs and hit 20 or more home runs before the All-Star break. Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Reggie Jackson, Frank Thomas and Alex Rodriguez were the others.

"The 80 runs I think that has something to do with the guys hitting behind me," Donaldson said.

The Tigers scored in the fifth on a leadoff triple by Mike Aviles and a grounder to second by McCann.

Dustin Molleken replaced Sanchez in the fifth and pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings.

Darwin Barney and Thole opened the bottom of the eighth with singles against left-hander Kyle Ryan, and Carrera moved them to second and third with a soft groundout to third. Donaldson was intentionally walked to load the bases.

Michael Saunders singled to left to score one run.

Toronto right-hander Bo Schultz pitched around a single and a walk in the ninth to finish the game.

NOTES: Toronto 1B/DH Edwin Encarnacion dropped his appeal and served a one-game suspension Sunday. He received the suspension for bumping home plate umpire Vic Carapazza on July 1 after being ejected for arguing balls and strikes. Encarnacion has 80 RBIs, third most by a Blue Jays player at the All-Star break behind 1B Carlos Delgado with 97 and CF Vernon Wells with 84, both in 2003. ... The Tigers agreed to terms on a minor league deal with OF Alex Presley, who played in 47 games this season with the Milwaukee Brewers, batting .198 with three homers and 11 RBIs. He hit .344 with on homer and three RBIs in nine games with Triple-A Colorado Springs. ... The Tigers announced that RHP Warwick Saupold (right groin strain) is scheduled to begin a rehabilitation assignment at Class A Lakeland. He has been out since June 1.