Blue Jays: Josh Donaldson leaves game with apparant thumb injury

The Toronto Blue Jays have put on an impressive offensive showing over two games in less than 24 hours against the New York Yankees, but it may be overshadowed by an apparent injury to Josh Donaldson, who left them game after he was jammed on an inside pitch from C.C. Sabathia in the top of the sixth inning.

The All-Star third baseman was 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts and made his exit with his team ahead 7-3 — Michael Saunders took over his spot in the lineup as the designated hitter. While his power numbers have been down in the month of August, Donaldson had hits in 12 of his last 14 games heading into the series finale in New York. His name continues to be held in the Most Valuable Player conversation along with Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros and most recently Mookie Betts of the Boston Red Sox.

Earlier in the ballgame, Blue Jays media and fans had a frenzy over an altercation in the dugout between Donaldson and manager John Gibbons.

It’s not the first time a player and manager had a disagreement and it won’t be the last. Donaldson praised Gibbons on MLB Network just a day earlier and said “Gibby is awesome. He’s a players manager. He really takes care of us.” Thus, the aggressive sharing of words can be left at that.

What’s more of a concern is the unknown injury to his right thumb and how serious the potential sprain may be. His ability to grip a bat will likely be the main issue, but any speculation further than that can be left to team doctors. The Blue Jays bats seem to be firing on all cylinders at the moment and the team has shown that they are deep enough to win without key players in the lineup. But with Kevin Pillar and Jose Bautista already sidelined, the timing is far from ideal.