After trading Papelbon, Phillies beat Blue Jays 3-2

TORONTO (AP) Dependable pitching was no problem for the Philadelphia Phillies in their first game after trading All-Star closer Jonathan Papelbon to Washington.

Alex Morgan pitched six innings and Ken Giles got his first save of the season as the Phillies beat the Blue Jays 3-2 Tuesday night for their ninth victory in 10 games since the All-Star break.

Morgan stopped a four-start winless streak and Cody Asche drove in two runs for the Phillies, who had lost their previous eight games against Toronto.

Bumped up to the leadoff spot to replace the departed Jose Reyes, Toronto's Devon Travis greeted Morgan with a leadoff homer in the first.

''I learned pretty quick that anybody in that lineup can hit a home run,'' Morgan said. ''From then on out I really focused on keeping the ball down and mixing speeds.''

Morgan escaped a bases-loaded jam with minimal damage in the second, giving up a sacrifice fly to Ryan Goins before striking out Travis for the third out.

''He settled down and he pitched very well,'' interim manager Pete Mackanin said.

Morgan (2-2) allowed two runs and five hits in six innings to win for the first time since his major league debut, June 21 against St. Louis.

Toronto came in batting .290 against left-handers.

''He shut us down us as well as any lefty has all year,'' Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said.

Jeanmar Gomez pitched the seventh, Luis Garcia worked the eighth and Giles finished.

''It was nice for him to get that save, especially under the circumstances with Pap gone,'' Mackanin said. ''He's the appropriate guy to give an opportunity to and let him run with it. I think he's capable of doing it.''

Giles, who got his first career save in 2014, said he was even more nervous in this one. He credited Papelbon for preparing him for the role.

''I can't thank him enough for guiding me through the way of the closer,'' Giles said. ''I think I'm going to be a great closer.''

Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista left after grounding out in the eighth suffering from cramps in his right hamstring. Bautista said he didn't consider the issue to be serious.

All-Star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, acquired by Toronto from Colorado, was not active and was expected to make his Blue Jays debut on Wednesday.

Three Phillies pitchers combined to set down 15 consecutive batters before Edwin Encarnacion's leadoff single in the ninth. Giles retired the next three batters in order.

Toronto, which lost Travis to a sore left shoulder earlier in the third, had to use catcher Russell Martin at second base in the ninth.

Making his fourth start for Toronto, left-hander Felix Doubront (1-1) allowed three runs and six hits in four-plus innings. Doubront has not won in his past three outings.

''He lost the zone and started scattering,'' Gibbons said.

Philadelphia took the lead with a three-run fifth. Ryan Howard led off with an infield single that bounced off his leg. Gibbons asked for a review but was denied.

''I figured one of the umpires must have saw that,'' Gibbons said. ''Thought it was pretty obvious.''

Darin Ruf, Asche and Andres Blanco followed with consecutive doubles.

Martin doubled off the glove of center fielder Ben Revere to begin the fourth, but Morgan responded by setting down the next nine batters.

PAPELBON MOVES ON

The Phillies received Double-A RHP Nick Pivetta for Papelbon, who was 2-1 with a 1.59 ERA and went 17 for 17 in save appearances.

NUMBERS GAME

Blue Jays third base coach Luis Rivera changed his jersey number from 2 to 4 so that Tulowitzki could wear his preferred number. Tulowitzki was assigned the locker that once belonged to Reyes.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Phillies: Phillies LHP Cole Hamels is being pushed back one day and is not scheduled to start for again until after Friday's trade deadline has passed. Hamels threw a season-high 129 pitches in Sunday's no-hitter over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. He is 6-7 with a 3.64 ERA in 20 starts.

Blue Jays: Travis left after two innings with a sore left shoulder. He missed 36 games earlier this season because of a shoulder injury, suffered when he was hit by a bad hop grounder in an April 30 game at Cleveland.

UP NEXT

Phillies: RHP Jerome Williams (3-7, 6.28 ERA) pitched six innings against the Chicago Cubs on July 24, his first start after missing more than a month with a strained left hamstring. He's 2-0 in four career appearances against Toronto.

Blue Jays: RHP R.A. Dickey (4-10, 4.53 ERA) pitched 8 1-3 innings to beat Oakland on July 23, snapping a five-start winless streak. Dickey has allowed three earned runs or fewer in nine of his past 10 outings.