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DETROIT -- Josh Donaldson got plenty of reminders that he only needed a double to hit for a cycle on Wednesday. Donaldson had a single, home run and triple by the fifth inning and that didn't escape the attention of his teammates, even though he had a four-hit game with two home runs, a double and a single late last month.
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"The last time at home it wasn't going through my mind until Gibby (manager John Gibbons) said something to me," Donaldson said. "Today, 10 people said something to me. I'm like, 'Alright, whatever. If it happens, it happens.'"
It didn't happen, as Donaldson grounded out in his last at-bat. The Toronto third baseman inflicted more than enough damage, as the Blue Jays salvaged the finale of a three-game series with a 7-2 win over the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.
"Getting a hit in the big leagues is hard enough, (let alone) a cycle," said Donaldson, who hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the third inning.
"You think about it. It would be cool to do it, but it's not a main concern as you go out there."
Justin Smoak had a two-run shot and Kevin Pillar supplied a two-run triple for the Blue Jays, while winning pitcher R.A. Dickey (4-6) gave up two runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Donaldson, who has been dealing with a jammed thumb, snapped a streak of 30 at-bats without an extra-base hit. He also made a sparkling defensive play against Miguel Cabrera, snaring a hard one-hopper with a diving grab and throwing out the Tigers slugger.
"It's all reaction," Donaldson said. "He came by to me and it was actually pretty funny. He said, 'Your eyes weren't even open when you caught that ball.' I told him, 'You can't tell because I'm wearing sunglasses.'"
Dickey won back-to-back starts for the first time this season. A quartet of relievers finished up and did not allow a hit.
"It was one of those games where the bats came to life and Dickey gutted it out," Gibbons said. "He didn't really have much of a knuckleball today. It was a game of survival for him."
Nick Castellanos hit a two-run home run for the Tigers, who had their five-game winning streak snapped. Cabrera extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a fifth-inning single.
"We held them to no runs the first game, two runs the second game," Detroit manager Brad Ausmus said. "They've got too good of a lineup; you can't continue to do that to the Blue Jays.
"Donaldson and Smoak both hit the ball very well. Today was their day, but we took two out of three. We'll take the day off and move on."
Losing pitcher Jordan Zimmermann (8-3) had his shortest outing of the season. He allowed seven runs on eight hits -- six for extra bases -- in 4 2/3 innings.
"They just got to Zimm today; he was a little off his game," Ausmus said. "Everyone's going to have their off days."
Zimmermann didn't get the call on a close 2-and-2 pitch to Smoak with two out in the first. Smoak sent his next offering soaring over the right-field wall, giving the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead.
It didn't last long. Castellanos, hitting cleanup, crushed a 1-and-0 offering from Dickey in the bottom of the inning for a 2-2 tie. That was the 11th homer for Castellanos, who hit 15 in 154 games last season.
Donaldson's team-high 14th home run put the Blue Jays back on top 5-2 in the third. He drilled a 2-anbd-2 pitch over the left field fence after a Josh Thole walk and Jose Bautista double.
Pillar ended Zimmermann's day in the fifth with his two-out, two-run triple into the right-center gap.
NOTES: Detroit CF Cameron Maybin was not in the starting lineup for the second straight game. He is dealing with soreness in his left wrist. The Tigers are 13-8 when Maybin starts. DH Victor Martinez, who has appeared in all but one game, also was out of the lineup. ... The Tigers begin a 10-game trip against the New York Yankees on Friday, while the Blue Jays start a four-game home series against Baltimore on Thursday. ... The Blue Jays allowed an American League-worst 100 runs from the seventh inning and beyond during their first 60 games. ... Tigers 2B Ian Kinsler scored 50 runs in the team's first 58 games, second only to Boston's Mookie Betts (55). ... Toronto manager John Gibbons turned 54 on Wednesday. ...The Blue Jays drew nine walks but scored only two runs on Tuesday. That hadn't happened since they walked 10 times and scored two runs against Houston on July 28, 2013.
