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Sanchez leads Blue Jays past Orioles 5-3

Aug 31, 2016 | 8:45 PM

BALTIMORE — Jose Bautista homered on the game’s first pitch and Russell Martin went deep four batters later in support of Aaron Sanchez, leading the Blue Jays to a 5-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night.

Toronto took two of the three games in the pivotal American League East series. The fading Orioles are four games behind the first-place Blue Jays and are tied with Detroit for the second wild card spot.

Sanchez (13-2) was recalled from Class-A Dunedin to make the start. He spent 10 days in the minors to limit his innings and he took advantage of the extra rest. Sanchez allowed an unearned run and five hits with two strikeouts over six innings and a season-high 112 pitches.

Michael Saunders hit his 23rd homer, a solo shot in the eighth that made it 5-1.