Donaldson homers twice, leads Blue Jays past Phillies 8-5

And Donaldson’s season numbers are near the top of the league – No. 2 in RBIs (87) and first in extra-base hits (61).

“Doing the best I can”, he said after a 1-for-4 night that included reaching on an error in the ninth. In their half of the 3rd, the Phillies pulled one back when Cesar Hernandez singled home Cameron Rupp to make it a 3-2 game. A loud group of Jays fans chanted “MVP” as he rounded the bases.

As the demand for seats at Toronto Blue Jays games rises police are warning of a spike in fake ticket sales. It’s possible, of course, that the Jays could re-sign him, but it would cost them multiple millions over a long term, say, $130 million over seven or eight years.

Toronto Blue Jays’ Mark Buehrle pitches during the third inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Wednesday, August 19, 2015, in Philadelphia. Rochester took a 4-0 lead and the Red Wings held on for a 6-5 win over the Herd at Frontier Field.

Afterwards, Buehrle said his stuff and location were on the beam, and that it was just one of those nights. And on Wednesday night, he admitted that “it’s something I had past year in Pittsburgh too“.

“I first started in the American League and I adjusted to it and I went into the National League and I had to get adjusted again“, he said.

The Blue Jays would score a pair of runs in the eighth inning, as reliever Luis Garcia opted to start the inning in trouble by walking Ben Revere and Cliff Pennington. After Rodriguez’s home run, the Yankees added insurance runs with nobody out in the eighth on a two-run double by Headley and a run-scoring single by Jacoby Ellsbury.

“The nice thing is we knocked out Buehrle early after knocking out [R.A. Dickey] the night before”, manager Pete Mackanin said. Asche singled to right, O.Herrera scored. Nelson Cruz lined an RBI double to left field and two batters later, Seth Smith hit a two-run homer into the Texas bullpen in right-center. He hasn’t made an error, and the former Gold Glove victor has made a nice double play partner with Jays second baseman Ryan Goins.

The game was essentially overshadowed by the breaking news beforehand that the Phillies and the Los Angeles Dodgers were in the midst of final talks on a trade of Chase Utley. Martin could be seen wincing during his at-bats, and when it came time to burst down the first base line, the veteran catcher didn’t have a chance.

Phillies: Rookie 3B Maikel Franco was placed on the 15-day DL because of a broken left wrist.

Minnesota showed some signs of life over the past three games, but this didn’t translate into anything more than a handful of periodic leads. Mark Buehrle gets the ball, and he’s 13-5 with a 3.31 ERA and 73 strikeouts this season. He’s 6-2 with a 3.50 ERA in nine career starts vs. Philadelphia. Chris Colabello was called out on strikes to end what was the Jays’ only rally against Phillies’ rookie left-hander Adam Morgan.

Right-hander Jacob deGrom allowed one run over 7-2/3 innings while Curtis Granderson hit two homers as the New York Mets beat the Baltimore Orioles.