Jays early woes continue; Donaldson goes on DL

TORONTO (CP) — The Toronto Blue Jays rolled out a new brand campaign this season built around the hashtag “LetsRise.”

The club’s marketing team sees it as a rallying cry for a squad with aspirations of returning to the post-season. The omnipresent hashtags at Rogers Centre are serving as a reminder there’s nowhere to go but up for a team off to the worst start in its history.

A 6-4 defeat to the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night extended Toronto’s losing skid to seven games and left the Blue Jays with a woeful 1-9 record.

“You’ve just got to keep grinding through it,” said Toronto first baseman Justin Smoak. “It’ll turn.”

The Blue Jays struck out 15 times and did not take a base on balls.

Let’s Rise? So far it’s what spectators say as they leave their seats an inning or two early to beat the post-game traffic.

The Orioles used the long ball for their latest victory, lighting up starter Aaron Sanchez (0-1) for three homers and adding another blast off reliever Jason Grilli in the ninth.

Chris Davis, Jonathan Schoop, J.J. Hardy and Seth Smith went yard as Baltimore improved to 7-2, tops in the American League East division standings.

Before the game, the Jays placed third baseman Josh Donaldson on the 10-day disabled list after he aggravated a right calf injury in a 2-1 loss to Baltimore on Thursday night.

“It’s very aggravating, very frustrating,” Donaldson said. “At the same time, you’ve got to try to stay as positive as possible and look to get back in the right time and make sure that everything is going to be good.”