Altherr, Morgan lead Phillies past Blue Jays 7-3

Toronto reportedly plans to use Hague, who is 6 feet 3 inches tall and 225 pounds, as a reserve first baseman or possibly a pinch-hitter in its series with the Philadelphia Phillies. Then with Odubel Herrera on and two outs, Altherr picked on a Schultz pitch and hit it out to give the Phillies a 7-2 lead. But Altherr would wind up offering a pleasant diversion.

Afterwards, Buehrle said his stuff and location were on the beam, and that it was just one of those nights. “Has to start his major league career on the same night Chase has to leave”.

The son of a military service mother and German soccer pro father, Altherr was a somewhat marginal prospect in the Phillies organization until finally graduating to Double-A last season. He’d made a brief visit with the big club in June on an emergency basis, but still just 24, became a solid contributor for Class AAA Lehigh Valley this season, hitting. 293 weith 14 home runs and 67 RBIs.

The Blue Jays got two back in the eighth but it was too little too late.

They pitch well and the kid tonight, Nola’s been good, he’s one of the big prospects. “Hopefully I can continue to keep producing up here and help the team win”.

After a 1-2-3 second inning, Buehrle ran into more trouble in the third as Jeff Francoeur took him deep for a solo homer. “The kid’s got a lot riding on it for his future, you know“.

True or not it seemed an appropriate story. Born in Germany and developed since being selected in the ninth-round seven drafts ago, Altherr doubled, homered and knocked in three runs in the Phillies’ 7-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Phillies pushed on top with a pair of runs in the bottom of the 4th on an RBI single by Cody Asche, who then scored on an RBI triple from Freddy Galvis.

Toronto Blue Jays’ Josh Donaldson runs the bases after hitting a…

In the fifth inning, Altherr checked off another milestone.

PIRATES 4, DIAMONDBACKS 1: J.A. Happ allowed two hits in six shutout innings as Pittsburgh won at home.

“I’m in a position in the lineup where I need to come through, and fortunately I’ve been able to do that, ” Donaldson said. “You’re forced to pinch-hit for a pitcher if you’re down. It takes the pressure off”. The Jays’ 32-year-old first baseman extended his hit streak to a career-high 16 games – the longest active streak in the majors – with his 23rd homer of the season and fifth in the last six games.

“Everything felt great – shoulder, body, everything”, Morgan said. “Other than the fifth inning he mowed them down”.

Donaldson, who went 3-for-4 in the game, put the Jays ahead to stay with a three-run shot off Philadelphia’s Jeanmar Gomez in Toronto’s five-run sixth inning. All this while he plays third base as well as anyone. Thus, they were left mainly with players stemming from their farm system.

“I really didn’t try to do anything special, just stick to my strengths and move the ball in and out, front and back”, Morgan said.

The lone bright side for the visitors on Wednesday night was that Edwin Encarnacion continued to swing a hot bat.

Utley had watched it all with his usual outwardly stoic, inwardly intense demeanor.

Instead, the Blue Jays have rode MLB’s best offense and the aforementioned trade deadline cavalry to a 66-54 record entering play Wednesday.

“It’s different”, Howard said.