Jays’ Sanchez, Gibbons suspended

Although not so electric, Estrada got the job done Tuesday, holding the Minnesota Twins to two hits and one run over 6 2/3 innings in the Blue Jays’ 3-1 victory.

“That was the best atmosphere I’ve ever been in”, Price said. Gibbons had been ejected for arguing with home plate umpire Jim Wolf one inning earlier.

The message of his “little chat” was simple: Keep grinding, stay strong mentally, take care of the little things and don’t worry about the wild-card standings with two months left in the season. And for much of the last week, chants of “Let’s go Blue Jays!” have been rocking the stadium even before the first pitch has been thrown.

Three runs was more than enough for Marco Estrada, who went back to dominating after the rough forth inning.

Before the game Twins manager Paul Molitor, called a team meeting to check the pulse of the team.

But he’s been thinking of some moves he might make, and we’ll see what he meant by that. “I know we didn’t have a lot of chances because I didn’t put many signs on all night”, he said.

Donaldson and Tulowitzki both drilled second-deck homers off Twins righthander Phil Hughes, who leads the majors with 27 home runs allowed this season. Hughes has won six straight decisions, tied for the longest active streak in baseball. “They’re a tough group to navigate”.

“I was missing over the plate a lot with my cutter and my fastball”, Hughes said. Price on the other hand made on start going eight innings while striking out 11 in the Blue Jays 5-1 win against the Minnesota Twins.

He also was charged with a third run in the sixth after giving up doubles to Edwin Encarnacion and Dioner Navarro.

A Rosario double with two out in the seventh chased Estrada, only the second hit he allowed. Right-hander Mark Lowe was brought in from the bullpen to retire Twins center fielder Aaron Hicks on a fly to left. The ace left-hander acquired last week from the Detroit Tigers showed why the Blue Jays were willing to pay a hefty price, retiring the final 15 batters he faced.

As has been the case of late, it was Donaldson who provided the initial spark for Toronto in Tuesday’s win, crunching his 28th home run of the season in the first inning to give Toronto a 1-0 lead. I don’t care how good a pitcher you are.

And some infielders don’t want to straddle the base on a tag play – they might get spiked. Third baseman Trevor Plouffe and designated hitter Miguel Sano walked to load the bases with one out.

Toronto manager John Gibbons received a one-game ban for returning to the field after being ejected and served the penalty on Tuesday night.

Toronto Blues Jays pitcher Aaron Sanchez and manager John Gibbons have been suspended by Major League Baseball for their involvement in a bench-clearing spat with the Kansas City Royals on Sunday. Benches cleared, but no punches were thrown. After issuing the warning in the first, the Jays were upset when reliever Ryan Madson wasn’t tossed for hitting shortstop Troy Tulowitzki in the forearm in the seventh inning. If he appeals, his penalties will be held until the matter is settled.