Aaron Sanchez looked strong in his first start of the spring with three shutout innings as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Minnesota Twins 13-8 Saturday in Dunedin.

Sanchez's only blip on an otherwise clean outing was a 2-2 curveball that Taylor Featherston ripped into the gap for a double, but he was picked off second by Sanchez later in the inning. Of his 31 pitches, 23 were strikes.

Sanchez had just nine starts last season after battling nail and blister issues for most of the year. He followed up a strong 2016 season with a 1-3 record and a 4.25 ERA in 36.0 innings, but said earlier this spring he is pain-free. Sanchez made his spring debut last week in relief, surrendering a pair of runs in an inning of work.

Left-hander Ryan Borucki relieved Sanchez but struggled, surrendering five runs on five hits in 1.1 innings.

Toronto's offence tagged Twins' starter Phil Highes for four runs in 2.1 innings of work, with Yangervis Solarte, Kevin Pillar and Russell Martin all going deep on the afternoon. The score was tied 8-8 going into the 8th inning, when the Jays exploded for five runs on two hits, four walks, a hit batsman and an error by the Twins. Lefty Sean Reid-Foley worked a scoreless ninth to close things out.

The Jays will be back in action Sunday when they take on the Philadelphia Phillies at Spectrum Field in Clearwater. They will begin the regular season on March 29 against the New York Yankees.