Diaz lifts Blue Jays Phillies

Aledmys Diaz watched teammate Teoscar Hernandez’s at bat from the on-deck circle closely, and knew what to expect from Phillies reliever Victor Arano when he stepped up to the plate with two out and the bases loaded in the eighth.

The Blue Jays third baseman hit a basesclearing double to drive in three runs and cap off Toronto’s 8-6 come-frombehind win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday.

“I just saw the at bat before when Teoscar was hitting, (Arano) threw a lot of sliders,” said Diaz through an interpreter. “I didn’t think he was going to throw any fastballs. He threw me a good (slider), the first one and the second one he put a little bit in the middle so I put good wood on it.”

The win extends the Blue Jays (60-69) streak to a season-high five games. Joe Biagini (2-7) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win and Ken Giles picked up his 18th save of the season.

Seranthony Dominguez (1-5) was charged with three earned runs on one hit in two-thirds of an inning for the Phillies (6960) who have dropped six of their past seven games.

Aaron Sanchez, activated off the disabled list on Saturday (right index finger contusion), was tagged for six earned runs on 10 hits over parts of six innings. The Blue Jays right-hander struck out two and walked a pair.

“I think off the bat, I pitched better than the line says,” said Sanchez. “Defence was outstanding there all game, bullpen harnessed down the remainder of the six innings or five innings after I came out. The guys got big hits in big situations and we were fortunate enough to come out with the win.”

Kendrys Morales and Billy McKinney each hit a two-run home runs and Teoscar Hernandez delivered an RBI single in the win.

Rhys Hoskins scored Roman Quinn on a sac-fly for the game’s first run in the third.