Sanchez leads Blue Jays over Rockies 5-3

DENVER (AP) Aaron Sanchez kept the Colorado Rockies' potent offense grounded Wednesday.

He induced 14 groundouts, a great idea in Coors Field.

Sanchez allowed one run in eight innings and Josh Donaldson homered to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to a 5-3 victory over the Rockies.

Sanchez (8-1) allowed six hits, struck out three and walked two in extending his unbeaten streak to 12 games.

''Any time you can keep the ball on the ground, especially here in Coors Field, that's big,'' Sanchez said. ''I felt like I did have everything working today.''

The Blue Jays won their first series ever in Denver and their first overall since June 13-16, against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Roberto Osuna gave up RBI doubles to Mark Reynolds and Daniel Descalso and put the tying run in scoring position with one out in the ninth. He hit Charlie Blackmon to load the bases before Cristhian Adames was called out on a controversial third strike to end the game.

''I can't tell if he swung or not,'' Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. ''He may have swung, but I still think with the game on the line, the third base umpire is down there for a reason.''

Tyler Anderson (0-2) allowed the homer to Donaldson with two outs in the third inning and an RBI single to Troy Tulowitzki two batters later to give Toronto a 3-0 lead.

Junior Lake and Edwin Encarnacion also drove in runs for the Blue Jays. Ryan Goins scored on a wild pitch in the ninth to push the lead to 5-1.

Toronto finished its road trip 3-3.

''They say if you finish .500 on your road trip that's a pretty good road trip,'' Donaldson said. ''Obviously we wanted to win more games, but we were able to kind of salvage the road trip today.''

In the seventh, Sanchez allowed a single and two walks to load the bases, but left unscathed after inducing pinch-hitter Ryan Raburn into an inning-ending double play. He followed it with a hitless eighth.

''I think his command was the key for him,'' Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez said. ''He threw some really good pitches. He trusted his fastball. It is live and it has movement.''

Tulowitzki went 2 for 13 in his first trip back to Colorado since his trade to the Blue Jays. He played in front of a warmly receptive crowd over the three days at Coors Field. The former Rockies All-Star homered Tuesday, in a game that started nearly three hours late because of intense rain and hail and didn't end until 1:12 a.m.

TOP PITCHING PROSPECT CLOSE

RHP Jeff Hoffman may want to stay near a phone. A call-up could be near.

''I'm not sure when that would be,'' Weiss said, ''but I think he's pretty close.''

Hoffman was the Blue Jays' first pick in the 2014 draft before he was shipped to Colorado as part of the trade for Tulowitzki last July.

Hoffman is the Rockies' top pitching prospect and is ranked 47th among all prospects, according to MLB.com.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Blue Jays: Brett Cecil (triceps) will likely be activated off the 15-day DL on Thursday before the Blue Jays' four-game series against the Cleveland Indians.

Rockies: SS Trevor Story (finger) sat out Wednesday. He was hit in the middle finger by a ninth-inning pitch Sunday and re-aggravated it in a late at-bat Tuesday. ... 2B DJ LeMahieu (knee) appeared as a defensive replacement Tuesday, but the Rockies chose to give him a couple more days of rest with the team off Thursday. ... RHP Adam Ottavino (elbow), rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, pitched a clean inning for Colorado's Triple-A affiliate Albuquerque Isotopes on Tuesday.

UP NEXT

Blue Jays: RHP R.A. Dickey (5-8, 4.23 ERA) opens a four-game set against the surging Indians on Thursday. The veteran knuckleballer struggled in his last outing, allowing a season-high four home runs against the Chicago White Sox.

Rockies: LHP Jorge De La Rosa (5-4, 6.47 ERA) will take the mound against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday. De La Rosa seems to have found his groove since rejoining the rotation on June 14, allowing just four runs over 17 innings.