Donaldson, Blue Jays bash way past Diamondbacks
PHOENIX -- Josh Donaldson doubled, homered and drove in three runs and Edwin Encarnacion belted his 10th career homer at Chase Field in the Toronto Blue Jays' 10-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday afternoon.
Donaldson gave the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead two batters into the game, when he followed Darwin Barney's single with his 24th homer of the season.
Donaldson's double off the 25-foot fence above the 413-foot sign in left-center field with two outs in the sixth inning drove in a run to make it 6-1 and knock Arizona starter Patrick Corbin (4-9) out of the game.
Encarnacion capped a four-run eighth inning with his 26th homer of the season, his ninth in his last eight games at Chase Field. He leads the major leagues with 85 RBIs.
Barney had two hits and three RBIs, Devon Travis had three hits and Troy Tulowitzki and Kevin Pillar had two hits and an RBI as the Blue Jays (54-40) won for the 11th time in 14 games.
Marcus Stroman (8-4) gave up one run and eight hits in eight innings for his first victory on the road since beating Minnesota 3-1 on May 18. Stroman struck out six and did not walk a batter. All the hits off him were singles, and four were in the infield.
Tuffy Gosewisch hit a three-runhomer in the ninth inning and Jean Segura had three hits for the Diamondbacks (40-55), who have lost two in a row and seven of nine. They are 17-35 at home.
Donaldson is hitting .439 with six doubles, four homers and 15 RBIs in 17 interleague games.
Corbin gave up six runs (five earned) and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings. He is 0-7 with a 7.23 ERA in 10 home starts. He struck out four and walked two.
After Donaldson's homer, Arizona got one run back in the last of the first inning when Segura and Michael Bourn singled, and Segura scored when right fielder Junior Lake threw the ball past third base. Bourn had two hits.
Travis doubled, took third on an infield error and scored on Barney's sacrifice fly for a 3-1 lead.
Donaldson walked with one out in the fifth inning and Russell Martin reached on a fielder's choice when shortstop Nick Ahmed could not get the the ball out of his glove cleanly. Tulowitzki drove in a run with a double and Pillar drove in another with a single. It was 5-1.
Barney, who was playing his first career game in left field, tripled off the center-field fence in the eighth inning to drive in Travis and Stroman before Incarnation homered for a 10-1 edge.
NOTES: Toronto LF Michael Saunders (personal) was not with the team on Wednesday but is expected to return to action Friday, when the Blue Jays open a nine-game homestand with a three-game series against Seattle. ... Toronto RHP Marco Estrada (back) is scheduled to start Friday, the first day he is eligible to return from the disabled list. Estrada leads major-league starters with a .196 batting average on balls in play, according to FanGraphs. He led the majors with a .216 BABIP in 2015. Those are the two lowest figures since at least 2000. ... Arizona RHP Zack Greinke (oblique) threw off a mound for the first time since his injury Wednesday and said "more than likely" he will need a rehab start before returning to the rotation. When asked if he was frustrated, Greinke said, "That's the perfect word." ... Arizona RHP Shelby Miller gave up three runs on four hits and struck out 10 in 6 2/3 innings for Triple-A Reno on Tuesday, his first start since being optioned at the All-Star break. Miller had a no-hitter through five innings, and the D-backs reported his fastball registered at 96 mph.