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

Donaldson hit two homers, Edwin Encarnacion also went deep and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Philadelphia Phillies 8-5 Tuesday night.

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The AL wild card-leading Blue Jays have won 13 of 15.

It was Donaldson’s 33rd homer of the season, third multi-homer game of the season and the sixth of his career. “I wish we had him here”, Mackanin finally said about Donaldson. “I hope I can just keep producing up here and helping the team win”.

“I mean, honestly, since the All-Star Break we were on a roll ourselves with Philly, winning games”, Revere said. It was the first career hit for the 24-year-old Altherr, a 2009 ninth-round draft pick who was called up to fill the roster spot of Maikel Franco after the rookie third baseman was placed on the disabled list on Tuesday with a fractured left wrist.

On the surface, that would seem to be a tremendous thing for Donaldson and the Jays and their fans, as the club hasn’t had an MVP victor since George Bell’s somewhat dubious victory over Detroit’s Alan Trammell in 1987.

August 6, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Kyle Gibson (44) walks off the field after being relieved during the fifth inning in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. “It’s been special to watch him have a big year”.

The Phillies scored three in the first off the Jays’ Mark Buehrle on hits from Darin Ruf and Aaron Altherr and a sacrifice fly from Jeff Francoeur.

“I wish I could have a lot of these nights”, he said. “I don’t know how you fight that or counter it. There’s nothing you can do about that, it’s the way your body responds sometimes”.

As for whether Stroman can complete his comeback and rejoin Toronto’s pitching staff for the stretch run, Gibbons said he’s “cautiously optimistic”, per MacArthur. “They’re swinging the bats well”. Pinch hitter Chris Colabello singled home Revere.

Will Marcus Stroman rejoin the Blue Jays’ rotation in 2015?

It means the Jays will once again have to take fate into their own hands and aim for a two-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies tonight. 389 (21-for-54) over his hit streak with six doubles, three homers and 10 runs batted in, had a 14-game streak in 2008 when he played with the Cincinnati Reds.

In the fifth, after he gave up a solid single and two cheap infield hits to load the bases, Gibbons gave the ball to Hendriks.

Cesar Hernandez hit an RBI single with two outs in the bottom half to cut it to 3-2.

“I don’t think that Chase has that desire to leave, frankly”, Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. Rookie Adam Morgan will try to slow the Toronto offense while veteran Mark Buehrle takes the mound for the Blue Jays in the finale.

Banished RHP Drew Hutchison will be making just one start at triple-A Buffalo, that one occurring Sunday.

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Though many point to Trout as the most talented player in the game, Castrovince makes a case for Donaldson. The 25-year-old has notched a quality start in back-to-back outings but has not worked at least seven innings since his second major-league start on July 3. The right-hander has a 3.50 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, and a 117/47 K/BB ratio over 149 innings.

Philadelphia Phillies Odubel Herrera right scores past Toronto Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin on an RBI-single by Darin Ruf during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday Aug. 19 2015 in Philadelphia. Ruf advanced to third base on the throw