Encarnacion homers, Sanchez wins again in Toronto victory

PHOENIX (AP) - The Arizona Diamondbacks didn't get many chances against Toronto's young Aaron Sanchez on Tuesday night.

And they squandered their biggest opportunity.

Sanchez threw seven strong innings and pitched out of a third-inning jam in the Toronto Blue Jays' 3-1 victory.

Singles by pitcher Zack Godley and Jean Segura put runners at first and third with one out in the third but Paul Goldschmidt bounced out to third and Jake Lamb flied out to center.

"We had second and third and you would like to get a run or two there," Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale said. "It is tough with our pitcher on third. He is not really a good baserunner and I think with one of our position players on third at least we get one run out of it on Goldy's ball."

Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run homer off Godley to give Sanchez all the help he needed.

Encarnacion loves hitting at Chase Field. He has hit nine home runs in seven games there.

"I see the ball real well," he said through an interpreter. "I feel comfortable in this ballpark. ... Maybe it's the hitter's eye. It's really big. It's a green wall over there. Maybe it's that, I don't know."

The first time he came up he flied out on a curveball.

"I just missed it the first at-bat so I was looking for it in my second at-bat," Encarnacion said. "I didn't miss it that time."

Sanchez (10-1), pitching on nine days' rest other than an inning in the All-Star Game, allowed a run and scattered six hits in seven innings to improve to 9-0 in his last 15 starts. He struck out five with no walks and hit two batters.

"He threw the heck out of the ball," Hale said, "and we knew it going in. He is an All-Star. His sinker is as good as anybody's."

Two of the Toronto runs were unearned after botched Arizona pickoff attempts.

Godley (2-1), called up from Triple-A Reno to make the start for Arizona, went five innings, giving up four runs, three earned, and six hits. He struck out seven and walked one.

"The couple of pitches I leave up they made me pay for," he said. "I just have to work down and keep getting groundballs. For the most part I did that. Just a couple of pitches messed me up."

Josh Donaldson singled three times for Toronto, driving in a run and scoring another.

Godley retired the first two batters in the third before singles by Devon Travis and Donaldson. That brought up Encarnacion, who hit Godley's 2-1 pitch into the seats in left field and Toronto led 3-1.

Travis singled again in the fifth and raced to third when Godley threw wildly to first on a pickoff try. Travis came home on Donaldson's single and the Blue Jays were up 4-1.

The Diamondbacks went ahead 1-0 in the first. Segura led off with a single, stole second, took third on Michael Bourn's groundout and scored when Goldschmidt bounced out to second.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Blue Jays: OF Jose Bautista (turf toe) is to make his first rehab appearance for Class-A Dunedin on Wednesday. He is to play three games for Triple-A Buffalo over the weekend and, manager John Gibbons said, if all goes well, he will rejoin the Blue Jays on Monday.

Diamondbacks: OF David Peralta (lower back strain) was 1 for 6 with a double and RBI in his first two rehab games for Double-A Mobile. Hale said Peralta could rejoin the Diamondbacks next week. ... INF Chris Owings (plantar fasciitis in left foot) was 4 for 6 with a triple and two walks in two rehab games for Triple-A Reno.

UP NEXT

Blue Jays.: RHP Marcus Stroman (7-4, 4.89 ERA) takes the mound in a Wednesday afternoon game, the finale before the Jays head to Toronto for a nine-game homestand.

Diamondbacks: LHP Patrick Corbin (4-8, 5.28) tries to bounce back from a rough start against the Dodgers in the last home game before Arizona embarks on a 10-game trip.