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Troy Tulowitzki #2 of the Toronto Blue Jays reacts as he hits a solo home run while running down the first base line in the third inning during MLB game action against the Minnesota Twins on August 4, 2015 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images

The Toronto Blue Jays, for public consumption at least, are being good, corporate citizens when they say that rules are rules and they will have to abide by any punishment Major League Baseball imposes on Aaron Sanchez.

It is the Canadian way, after all.

No one in the organization is going all Robert Kraft here and deriding the curious decisions that home plate umpire Jim Wolf made during Sunday's game against the Kansas City Royals.

Sanchez, one of Toronto's dependable young arms at the back end of the bullpen, learned several hours before Tuesday night's game against the Minnesota Twins that he was being fined an undisclosed amount and handed a three-game suspension by MLB for intentionally hitting a batter with a pitch during Sunday's free-for-all against the Royals.

The Blue Jays (56-52) took the news in relative stride – and then went out and squeezed out a satisfying 3-1 victory over the Twins (54-52) at Rogers Centre, Toronto's third win in a row and sixth in its past seven outings. Roberto Osuna pitched the ninth to earn his eighth save of the season.

The victory also maintained the Blue Jays' hold on the American League's second wild-card playoff berth.

But with everything seemingly falling into place at the right time in the Blue Jays' push for their first playoff berth in 22 seasons, the Sanchez shemozzle is a bit of a dark cloud. Toronto has pulled itself back into the thick of the playoff hunt and any time off for arguably their best relief power arm could prove costly.

And with the Blue Jays heading into a key series this weekend in New York against the AL East-leading Yankees, the club wants all hands on deck.

"Those are three games I don't want to miss," Sanchez said.

Sanchez will appeal the penalty, meaning that, for the interim, he is eligible to pitch. The appeal, whenever it is dealt with, will probably result in the original punishment getting reduced by a game or two.

Sanchez was used in Tuesday's victory, pitching a perfect eighth inning to help preserve the Blue Jays win.

"Look, we respect the league and understand," Toronto general manager Alex Anthopoulos said diplomatically when news of the suspension broke. "And from what we were told, it's the umpire's discretion what intent was. And with Jim Wolf, he felt like the three times in the Kansas City side, there was no intent.

"Again, we have to respect the ruling. You don't have to agree with it. We obviously support Aaron with the appeal."

What irks the Blue Jays, privately, is that they are the only team paying the price for the shenanigans that unfolded in the Kansas City contest. Royals pitchers were buzzing Toronto batters like a military barber over the course of the game, plunking stars Josh Donaldson and Troy Tulowitzki in the process.

When Donaldson was hit in the first inning by Royals starter Edinson Volquez, Wolf immediately issued cease-and-desist orders to both dugouts. However, Wolf opted to keep his ejection button on mute in the seventh when Tulowitzki was hit by a pitch from reliever Ryan Madson. The pattern continued for Donaldson, the next batter, who did not take kindly when Madson came in high and tight, which led to the ejection of Toronto manager John Gibbons, who came onto the field to voice his concerns. It was only in the eighth, when Sanchez struck Alcides Escobar in the leg with a pitch with two out, did Wolf see fit to exercise his judgment and eject the Toronto pitcher.

MLB suspended Sanchez "for intentionally throwing a pitch" at Escobar, a charge that Sanchez vehemently denies.

After Escobar was hit, all the ill-will from a terrific ball game boiled over and both the dugouts emptied for a bit of an infield skirmish, where no real damage was inflicted.

Even Gibbons joined in the fracas, rushing back onto the field from his office with the speed of an audience member who had just been chosen as a Price is Right contestant.

Gibbons was also given a one-game banishment by MLB that he willingly served Tuesday night.

As has been the case of late, it was Donaldson who provided the initial spark for Toronto in Tuesday's win, crunching his 28th home run of the season in the first inning to give Toronto a 1-0 lead. It was the third-baseman's fifth dinger in his past nine games.

Not to be outdone, Tulowitzki stroked his second home run since joining Toronto seven games ago in the second inning to bring the score to 2-0.

It was more than enough run support for Toronto starter Marco Estrada, who was perfect through the first three innings and improved to 9-6 on the season.

Estrada allowed the lone Minnesota run off two hits through 62/3 innings of work while striking out five.

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