Blue Jays and Josh Donaldson enter All Star Break on a High

Josh Donaldson #20 of the Toronto Blue Jays hits a three-run home run in the fourth inning during MLB game action against the Detroit Tigers on July 10, 2016 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

(July 10, 2016 - Source: Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images North America)

The Toronto Blue Jays enter the All Star break on a high as they beat the Detroit Tigers 6-1 in game three of their four-game series.

DH Josh Donaldson scored his 80th run of the season and joins Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Reggie Jackson, Frank Thomas and Alex Rodriguez as the only players in the AL who scored at least 80 runs and at least 20 homers before the All Star break.

Toronto loaded the bases in the second inning with back-to-back singles from SS Troy Tulowitzki and CF Kevin Pillar and a one-out walk by 1B Justin Smoak. C Josh Thole singled with two outs and drove in Troy Tulowitzki and Kevin Pillar for a 2-0 lead.

In the fourth inning, Josh Thole drew a walk with two outs and RF Ezequiel Carrera hit a single. Josh Donaldson followed with the three-run homer that put him in the aforementioned group of baseball greats.

Detroit made it on the scoreboard in the fifth inning. RF Mike Aviles hit a leadoff triple and C James McCann drove him in on a groundout.

The Blue Jays restored their five-run lead in the eighth. They opened the inning with back-to-back singles from 3B Darwin Barney and Josh Thole and loaded the bases when Josh Donaldson was intentionally walked with one out.

LF Michael Saunders followed with a single and drove Darwin Barney home for the final score of 6-1.

Detroit’s SP Anibal Sanchez (5-10) pitched only 4 innings, surrendering 8 hits, 2 walks and 5 earned runs while fanning 6. He now has a 6.75 ERA with a 1.65 WHIP on the season.

Toronto’s knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (7-9) worked 7 innings, allowing 5 hits, 2 walks and 1 earned run while striking out 5. His ERA and WHIP improved to 3.93 and 1.29, respectively.

Josh Donaldson went 2-for-4 with 1 run, 1 HR and 3 RBI. He is batting .304 this year and has 80 runs, 23 HR and 63 RBI.

After the All Star break, the Detroit Tigers (46-43) will host the Kansas City Royals (45-43) for a three-game series from Friday to Sunday.

The Toronto Blue Jays (51-40) will resume play with a three-game series at the Oakland A’s (38-51) from Friday through Sunday.