Josh Donaldson hits 2 home runs, Jays beat Phillies

Blue Jays 8  Phillies 5

Well, that was a National League game, lots of stuff going on, lots of pinch hitters, some bunting and a whole mess of runs. The Phillies made a bunch of error too (well 3....that's a bunch isn't it), just to keep things interesting.

That was R.A. Dickey's first bad start since July 4. Since then, 7 good starts in a row, with a 1.64 ERA in those games. But he just didn't have it tonight, it really didn't look like his knuckleball was floating at all.  He went just 4 innings. 9 hits, most of them very hard hit balls, 2 walks and 2 strikeouts. He did have a bit of bad luck in the 5th, he gave up a line drive single, to start the inning, but then 2 ground balls that were hit so softly that the Jays couldn't turn them into outs.

Liam Hendriks came in, with the bases loaded and no one out, and he got a double play ball (with a run scoring) and a Ryan Howard strikeout. Great job Liam. Without a great showing by Hendriks, we could have been way behind early.

Fortunately, as bad as Dickey was, our bullpen was equally terrific. We got a scoreless inning from each of Brett Cecil, LaTroy Hawkins, Aaron Sanchez and Roberto Osuna (getting his 14th save). Our relievers allowed just 2 hits over 5 innings.

It took a little bit for our offense to get going but our 5 run 6th inning put the game away. We scored:

• 1 in the first: Josh Donaldson solo homer.
• 2 in the third: Walks to Donaldson, Edwin Encarnacion and Russell Martin set up a Ezequiel Carrera single that drove home 2.
• 5 in the sixth: Ben Revere walked (he had 2 walks in the game!). He moved to second on pinch hitter Cliff Pennington's bunt single attempt. Without an amazing play from Phillies third baseman Cesar Hernandez, he would have been safe. Pinch hitter Chris Colabello singled home Revere. After another single from Troy Tulowitzki, Donaldson hit his second home run of the game. Encarnacion ended the scoring with a solo home run.