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Smoak, Donaldson homer as Blue Jays beat White Sox

Blue Jays 8 White Sox 4
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Blue Jays 8 White Sox 4

CHICAGO — Justin Smoak hit his 31st homer, Josh Donaldson homered and drove in three runs, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Chicago White Sox 8-4 on Tuesday night.

Smoak and Donaldson each connected for the second straight night and third time in five games. Donaldson also had a sacrifice fly and RBI double.

Marcus Stroman (10-5) went seven innings, allowing four runs and seven hits. He was winless in his previous three starts despite a 1.89 ERA in that stretch.

Toronto came out on top after dropping three of four and snapped a four-game road losing streak.

Chicago’s Kevan Smith hit a two-run homer batting for injured designated hitter Matt Davidson in the sixth. But the White Sox lost for the 18th time in 22 games.

Benches and bullpens emptied when Chicago’s Tim Anderson appeared to exchange words with Stroman after striking out to lead off the seventh. Tempers quickly cooled and there were no ejections.

Donaldson connected in the first and added a sacrifice fly in the third to give the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead.

Chicago’s Omar Narvaez tied it with a two-run double in the fourth, but Smoak’s two-run drive just beyond a leaping centre fielder Leury Garcia with two outs in the fifth made it 4-2.

The Blue Jays added three more in the sixth while chasing Mike Pelfrey (3-9) after he retired the first two batters. Russell Martin hit a two-run, bases-loaded single off Gregory Infante, and Donaldson drove an RBI double off the centre-field wall to make it 7-2.

Pelfrey gave up six runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings.

BLUE JAYS MOVE

Toronto designated LHP Brett Oberholtzer for assignment to make room for OF Nori Aoki, who was acquired Monday in a trade that sent left-hander Francisco Liriano to Houston.

TRAINER’S ROOM

White Sox: Davidson is day to day with a bruised right wrist after being hit by a pitch in the fourth inning. … Top prospect Yoan Moncada expects to miss two or three games after bruising his right knee in a frightening collision with OF Willy Garcia. Garcia, meanwhile, was put on the seven-day disabled list because of a concussion. The White Sox purchased infielder/outfielder Nicky Delmonico’s contract from Triple-A Charlotte on Tuesday.

UP NEXT

Toronto and Chicago wrap up a three-game series, with J.A. Happ (3-8, 4.15 ERA) starting for the Blue Jays and Derek Holland (5-10, 5.42) pitching for the White Sox in a matchup between left-handers. A 20-game winner last season, Happ is 0-3 in his past four outings. Holland has an 8.54 ERA in his past 11 starts.