TORONTO — Less than an hour after being named to the American League all-star team for a third straight season, Josh Donaldson continued to prove he belongs among the game's elite.

The Blue Jays third baseman hit two home runs and scored four times to back a solid start from R.A. Dickey as Toronto beat the Kansas City Royals 8-3 on Tuesday.

It was Donaldson's eighth career multi-homer game and fifth with the Blue Jays (47-39).

The 30-year-old, who represented Toronto at the 2015 all-star game and Oakland in 2014, was officially 3 for 4 but also reached on a fielder's choice. His four runs scored gave him a Blue Jays pre-all-star game record of 77.

Troy Tulowitzki, with a three-run shot, and Ezequiel Carrera also went deep for Toronto. Edwin Encarnacion drove in a run with a base hit and Kevin Pillar added a sacrifice fly.

Dickey (6-9) scattered four hits, three walks and two runs over seven innings. The knuckleballer also fanned eight en route to his first win of the year at Rogers Centre (1-6).

Cheslor Cuthbert hit a two-run shot and drove in another run for Kansas City (43-40). Chris Young (2-8) shouldered the loss after allowing six runs over 2 1/3 innings.

Donaldson attacked early, sending the first pitch he saw from Young in the first inning over the centre-field wall to give Toronto a 1-0 lead.

The Blue Jays got to Young again in the third with back-to-back homers from Carrera and Donaldson followed by Tulowitzki's three-run shot to give Toronto a 6-0 lead and end the Kansas City starter's night.

It was the 34th time in club history that the Blue Jays hit three home runs in one inning. The last was May 7, 2014 against Philadelphia.

Cuthbert put the Royals on the board with his two-run homer off Dickey in the fourth. But the Blue Jays replied in the bottom of the frame when Donaldson scored from second base on an Encarnacion single to extend their lead to 7-2.

Pillar plated Donaldson from third in the seventh with his sac fly.

Cuthbert laced an RBI double off Joe Biagini in the ninth to score Eric Hosmer from first.

Encarnacion and right-hander Marco Estrada were also named to the AL all-star team while Canadian left-fielder Michael Saunders was revealed as one of the Final Vote nominees for the last roster spot which will be determined by fans and announced Friday.

Saunders was 2 for 4 with a double in Tuesday's game. The Victoria native is batting .290 on the season.

NOTES: Attendance was 35,917. ... Carlos Delgado previously held Toronto's pre-all-star game runs record with 76 in 2003. ... The Blue Jays close out their three-game series against Kansas City on Wednesday night. Right-hander Marcus Stroman (6-4, 5.08 earned-run average) will start for Toronto. Righty Ian Kennedy (6-7, 4.04 ERA) counters for the Royals.