TORONTO -- The Blue Jays are joining forces with the Canadian Red Cross to lend their support to the communities impacted by Hurricane Irma's devastation in the Caribbean and southern United States.
Toronto announced on Saturday afternoon that $1 from the sale of every ticket for Monday night's game vs. the Orioles will be donated to the Canadian Red Cross hurricane relief efforts. The club also encouraged fans to donate directly to the Red Cross by visiting redcross.ca, or by calling 1-800-418-1111.
"The Toronto Blue Jays are deeply saddened by the widespread hurricane devastation currently impacting the United States and the Caribbean," the club said in a statement. "To aid in the humanitarian response, the club will be lending support to its baseball families and affected communities in these regions."
Toronto's Minor League complex in Dunedin, Fla., could be impacted by Hurricane Irma. The Blue Jays have delayed the start of their fall instructional league, and the Florida State League recently cancelled its championship series. Toronto instead named the Dunedin Blue Jays co-champions so play could be wrapped up before this weekend's events.
Sanchez 'running out of time'
Blue Jays manager John Gibbons conceded on Saturday afternoon that right-hander Aaron Sanchez is "running out of time" to get back on a big league mound before the end of the season. Sanchez flew to New York earlier this week to have his right middle finger examined, and while progress has been made he still isn't completely healthy.
Toronto initially hoped to have Sanchez pitch out of the bullpen before the end of the year. With three weeks remaining in the regular season, that might not be enough time to get it done.
"Sanchy's making progress but we're getting to the point of the season, 'Can he crank it up enough?' He might be past that," Gibbons said. "I think we're running out of time there."
Worth noting
• All signs point to Sanchez and second baseman Devon Travis being out for the year, but the Blue Jays still hope to get injured catcher Russell Martin back in the near future. Martin has been out since Aug. 11 with a strained oblique muscle but he's making progress and might return in the not-so-distant future.
"He's making progress," Gibbons said. "The tough part is there are no [Minor League] games for him to play in. ... We'll see. We're getting towards the end [of the season] anyway, but we'll see what happens."
• Third baseman Josh Donaldson was held out of the starting lineup on Saturday because of the flu. Left fielder Steve Pearce also was held out of the lineup because of tightness in his lower back. Pearce was removed from Friday night's game after the first inning because of that injury and Gibbons hopes to have him back "in a couple of days."