Blue Jays end three-game skid as Hutchison fans 10 in 4-1 victory over Brewers

TORONTO – Drew Hutchison had a season-high 10 strikeouts over seven innings as the Toronto Blue Jays ended a three-game losing skid with a 4-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday afternoon at Rogers Centre.

Jose Bautista returned to the starting lineup after a nine-day absence and put the Blue Jays on the board with a solo homer in the first inning off Marco Estrada. Colby Rasmus added another solo shot in the fifth and Toronto tacked on two insurance runs in the eighth.

Aaron Loup, Dustin McGowan and Casey Janssen completed the four-hitter. Janssen worked the ninth inning for his 13th save.

With the victory, Toronto (46-39) moved 1 1/2 games up on second-place Baltimore in the American League East division standings. The Orioles were scheduled to play the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night.

Bautista got the sellout crowd of 45,088 into the game early by belting a 3-2 pitch off the facing of the second deck for his 16th homer of the year. He returned to his No. 3 position in the batting order and was the designated hitter.

Hutchison (6-6), meanwhile, was in complete control early on. He retired the first 14 batters he faced — eight of them by strikeout — before Khris Davis reached on an infield single in the fifth inning.

Davis hit a ground ball up the middle that Jose Reyes did well to retrieve. The shortstop was forced to make a hurried off-balance throw that pulled Edwin Encarnacion off the bag at first base.

Rasmus made it a two-run game in the bottom of the frame. He turned on an 0-1 pitch for his 12th homer of the year.

Milwaukee (51-34) halved the lead in the sixth inning. Leadoff man Scooter Gennett reached on a flare to left field and Ryan Braun drove him in with a double into the right-field corner.

Hutchison gave up a leadoff walk to Carlos Gomez in the seventh. The Milwaukee cleanup hitter stole second and moved to third when Aramis Ramirez grounded out.

Davis was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners. He went for second base and the Blue Jays had him picked off as Encarnacion chased him down the line while keeping an eye on Gomez to make sure he didn’t break for home.

The throw to Reyes was a little high and a tad late, allowing Davis to slide under the tag attempt. Reynolds reached on a walk to load the bases for Jean Segura, who stranded the runners by lining out.

Estrada (7-5) was pulled for southpaw sidearmer Zach Duke after giving up a walk to Encarnacion and a single to Dioner Navarro in the bottom of the seventh. Duke retired the next three Blue Jays in order to keep it a one-run game.

Loup hit the lone batter he faced, putting pinch-hitter Rickie Weeks on to open the eighth. McGowan came on and got Braun to hit into a 4-6-3 double play.

McGowan walked Jonathan Lucroy and then fanned Gomez with a 96 mile-per-hour heater.

Hutchison allowed three hits, one earned run and walked a pair. Estrada gave up six hits, two earned runs and a walk while striking out two.

In the eighth, Melky Cabrera drove in a run with a triple and scored on an Encarnacion double.

Notes: The game took two hours 56 minutes to play. … Blue Jays wore their red and white jerseys for Canada Day. … Announced attendance was 45,088. It was Toronto’s sixth sellout of the season. …IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, Ont., threw out the ceremonial first pitch. … Hockey commentator Don Cherry received a nice ovation from the crowd when he was shown on the video scoreboard in the fourth inning. … Elian Herrera replaced Davis in left field in the seventh inning. … The teams will close out the mini-series with another matinee on Wednesday. Left-hander J.A. Happ (7-4, 4.29) is scheduled to start against right-hander Wily Peralta (9-5, 3.20). … The Blue Jays will kick off a 10-game road trip with the opener of a four-game series against Oakland on Thursday. … Toronto leads the major leagues with 110 home runs. … The Blue Jays are now 13-23 in Canada Day games.

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