| 1 | |
| 2 | TORONTO (AP) -- David Price was blown away by the reception he got in his Toronto debut. |
| 3 | Then he blew away the Minnesota Twins. |
| 4 | Price struck out 11 over eight innings to win his first Blue Jays start, Josh Donaldson hit a tiebreaking home run and Toronto beat Minnesota 5-1 in the opener of a four-game series between AL wild-card contenders. |
| 5 | Acquired from Detroit last Thursday for a trio of minor league left-handers, Price received a standing ovation from the sellout crowd of 45,766 as he walked in from the bullpen before the game. |
| 6 | ''That was the best atmosphere I've ever been in,'' Price said. |
| 7 | Price (10-4) allowed one run and three hits. |
| 8 | He threw 119 pitches, two shy of his season high. |
| 9 | Price's 11 strikeouts were the most by any pitcher in his Blue Jays debut. |
| 10 | Roger Clemens struck out nine White Sox on April 2, 1997. |
| 11 | ''There's guys that kind of separate themselves,'' Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. |
| 12 | ''David's at the top. |
| 13 | He's one of those guys. |
| 14 | NBA All-Star Kevin Durant was among those on hand to watch Price work on a sunny afternoon. |
| 15 | ''That's probably the coolest thing I've had happen to me, fan-wise,'' Price said. |
| 16 | The lefty retired the last 15 batters he faced. |
| 17 | He tipped his cap as he walked to the dugout after the eighth. |
| 18 | ''He pitched like an ace today,'' Minnesota starter Ervin Santana said. |
| 19 | Price is 4-0 with a 1.16 ERA in four starts against Minnesota this season. |
| 20 | Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, another of Toronto's deadline additions, singled off Santana (2-2) to begin the fifth and scored on Donaldson's 27th homer, an opposite field drive to right. |
| 21 | Price struck out the first two batters and set down four straight before Torii Hunter homered in the second. |
| 22 | It was the 12th home run surrendered by Price in 10 career starts at Rogers Centre, where he's 8-0. |
| 23 | ''He's always bearing down,'' Hunter said. |
| 24 | Ryan Goins tied it in the bottom half with a solo homer off Santana. |
| 25 | Minnesota loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth, but Price got Eddie Rosario to pop out, caught Aaron Hicks looking and struck out Kurt Suzuki on a 97 mph fastball to end the threat. |
| 26 | ''We didn't get much going after that,'' Twins manager Paul Molitor said. |
| 27 | LaTroy Hawkins finished in the ninth as the Blue Jays (55-52) closed to within percentage points of the Twins (54-51). |
| 28 | Minnesota has played two fewer games. |
| 29 | Santana lost his second straight start, allowing three runs and six hits in six innings. |
| 30 | Edwin Encarnacion and Justin Smoak made it 5-1 with RBI singles off Blaine Boyer in the seventh. |
| 31 | Injured Blue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman, who is taking summer courses at Duke University, posted a photo on Twitter to show he was watching the game despite being in class. |
| 32 | Stroman had the game on his phone, which he hid behind his laptop screen. |
| 33 | Last week, Stroman tweeted that he had been reprimanded by a professor for tweeting about the Price trade while attending class. |
| 34 | The Blue Jays said infielder Danny Valencia, who was designated for assignment Saturday, had been claimed by Oakland. |
| 35 | OF Ezequiela Carrera, who was also cut by the Blue Jays on Saturday, cleared waivers and was sent to Triple-A Buffalo. |
| 36 | Toronto claimed RHP Ben Rowen off waivers from the Chicago Cubs and assigned him to Triple-A Buffalo. |
| 37 | Rowen is 4-0 with a 1.93 ERA and one save in 34 games at Double-A and Triple-A this season. |
| 38 | Twins: RHP Tyler Duffey was selected from Triple-A Rochester to start Wednesday in place of LHP Tommy MIlone (elbow). |
| 39 | Twins: RHP Phil Hughes (10-6, 4.11 ERA) has won six straight decisions and has not lost since June 8 against Kansas City. |
| 40 | Hughes will make his 30th appearance against Toronto, his most against any opponent. |
| 41 | Blue Jays: RHP Marco Estrada (8-6, 3.53 ERA) will try to win back-to-back starts for the first time since a four-start winning streak in June when he faces the Twins for the first time this season. |
| 42 | Estrada has allowed more than two earned runs just once in his past eight outings. |