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Major League Baseball
Toronto 7, Philadelphia 2
When: 7:05 PM ET, Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Where: Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Temperature: 75°
Umpires: Home - Tom Woodring, 1B - Tony Randazzo, 2B - Todd Tichenor, 3B - Bill Miller
Attendance: 24753

PHILADELPHIA -- The Toronto Blue Jays' turnaround is complete.

So is their arsenal.

Marco Estrada ran his personal winning streak to four and Edwin Encarnacion homered for the fifth time in as many games as the Blue Jays beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2.

Josh Donaldson also homered and made a pair of sparkling defensive plays for Toronto, which won for the fifth time in six games. Ryan Goins and Devon Travis, the Nos. 7 and 8 hitters in their order, each contributed two hits and two RBIs.

Toronto (37-31), which is 18-8 over its last 26 games, also won for the second time in the first three contests of a four-game home-and-home series against Philadelphia.

Cody Asche went 3-for-4 and drove in the Phillies' runs with a solo homer and double. Philadelphia lost for the sixth time in seven games, and is 6-19 since May 18.

Estrada (5-2) improved to 4-0 with a 2.46 ERA over his last nine starts, going 6 2/3 innings and allowing two runs and four hits while striking out five and walking one.

Manager John Gibbons called Estrada, who has not allowed more than five hits in his last 10 outings, "a master at his craft." He nonetheless said he thought the game was something of a struggle for the right-hander.

"They have pesky hitters," Gibbons said. "He feasts off the big, hairy guys with big swings."

Estrada concurred.

"I didn't have my best, but I gave it everything, tried to hit the glove every time," he said. "Wasn't the greatest of games, but a lot of great defense helped me. (Donaldson) made two great ones."

Donaldson, the Jays' third baseman, made a backhand stab of a smash down the line by losing pitcher Jeremy Hellickson in the third, then fired to first for the out. In the sixth, he made an even better play -- diving to his right to spear Tommy Joseph's grounder and again making a strong, accurate throw.

"I take a lot of pride in defense, like all the guys on our team," Donaldson said. "It's fun to make those plays behind your pitcher. It's something I came into the season trying to be better at. Defense is fun."

The latter play came in a stretch that saw Estrada retire 10 straight hitters. He allowed a two-out single to Cesar Hernandez in the seventh, at which point the Jays' lead was 4-2. Reliever Jesse Chavez came on to strike out pinch hitter Ryan Howard.

Hellickson (4-5) dropped his third straight decision, pitching six innings and allowing four runs and five hits while striking out four and walking three.

Encarnacion led off the second with his 17th homer of the season, hitting Hellickson's 1-2 fastball into the seats in left field.

"Eddie is locked in pretty good," Gibbons said. "You give him something to hit and he's gonna hit it."

Asche knotted it with his second homer in the second, but the Jays assumed a 4-1 lead by scoring three times in the fourth.

After walks to Donaldson and Encarnacion and a double steal, Russell Martin chased in a run with a sacrifice fly. One out later, Goins added an RBI single, and Travis capped the inning with a run-scoring double.

"You walk the first two guys in an inning, you're just asking for trouble," said Hellickson, who has walked nine in 17 innings over his last three starts.

"I just haven't been making good pitches," he said. "I think that's what it comes down to -- not making big pitches when I need to, not stranding enough guys, just leaving too many balls up over the plate."

Asche doubled home a run in the fourth, cutting the Toronto lead to 4-2.

Donaldson opened the eighth by homering off reliever Hector Neris, Donaldson's 16th of the season. Goins drove in a run with a groundout later in the inning, and Travis added an RBI single to make it 7-2.

NOTES: Phillies 3B Maikel Franco (sprained right knee) was not in the lineup for the third straight game, but he struck out as a pinch hitter to end the game and will return to regular duty Thursday, manager Pete Mackanin said. ... Blue Jays OF Michael Saunders, pulled from Tuesday's game against the Phillies with a sore thigh, was not in the starting lineup, but was announced as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning. ... Toronto, which optioned LHP Aaron Loup to Triple-A Buffalo and designated RHP Scott Diamond for assignment Tuesday, recalled LHP Chad Girodo and INF Andy Burns from Buffalo before Wednesday's game. Girodo pitched a scoreless inning in relief, and Burns flied out as a pinch hitter.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Toronto   Philadelphia
Marco Estrada Player Jeremy Hellickson
Win W/L Loss
6.2 IP 6.0
5 Strikeouts 4
4 Hits 5
2.70 ERA 6.00
Hitting
Toronto   Philadelphia
Josh Donaldson Player Cody Asche
2 Hits 3
1 RBI 2
1 HR 1
5 TB 8
.500 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Toronto 9 2 18 .273 12 6 7 4 2 0
Philadelphia 6 1 11 .182 11 7 2 2 0 0