TORONTO -- The Toronto Blue Jays have come close to falling out of first place in the American League East thanks to a recent slide. An excellent start from Drew Hutchison and the return of Jose Bautista helped provide a little breathing room in the divisional race while ending a three-game losing skid at the same time. Hutchison struck out a season-high 10 batters and Bautista belted one of two Toronto homers as the Blue Jays defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 4-1 in front of a sellout crowd on Canada Day at Rogers Centre. The Toronto right-hander was dominant early on, retiring the first 14 batters he faced. Three relievers combined on the four-hitter as the Blue Jays moved 1 1/2 games ahead of second-place Baltimore. "When hes on, hes on," Toronto manager John Gibbons said of his starter. "He can be really, really good." The Orioles were scheduled to play the Texas Rangers later Tuesday. Bautista, meanwhile, gave his team an early lead with a no-doubt blast off Marco Estrada (7-5) that hit the facing of the second deck. It was the first start for the Toronto slugger since he strained his left hamstring on June 22. Colby Rasmus hit a solo shot in the fifth inning for the Blue Jays (46-39), who added some late insurance with a two-run eighth inning. Hutchison improved to 6-6 with his sixth quality start of the season. "A dynamite fastball and a good breaking ball," Gibbons said. "He got lots of strikeouts. Theyre a very aggressive hitting team over there so he got a lot of strikeouts up in the zone. But his fastball had a little extra life." The Toronto skipper showed his faith in Hutchison by leaving him out there after loading the bases in the seventh. He got out of the jam when Jean Segura lined out to right field. "I want to be in there in those situations," Hutchison said. "I believe in myself to make a pitch to get out of that so to have that (confidence) from (Gibbons), it was nice to be able to have that and then get out of it." Aaron Loup, Dustin McGowan and Casey Janssen completed the four-hitter. Janssen worked the ninth inning for his 13th save. "We didnt get a lot of hits," said Brewers manager Ron Roenicke. "A lot of strikeouts, not a lot of hits." Bautista was the designated hitter and he returned to his No. 3 position in the lineup for his first start in nine days. He got the crowd of 45,088 into the game early by turning on a 3-2 pitch for his 16th homer of the year. "Hes a pretty good hitter," Gibbons said. "Were not quite the (same) team without him, thats for sure." Hutchison already had eight strikeouts before Khris Davis reached on an infield single in the fifth to become Baltimores first baserunner. Davis hit a ground ball up the middle that Jose Reyes did well to retrieve. The shortstop was forced to make a hurried off-balance throw that pulled Edwin Encarnacion off the bag at first base. Rasmus made it a two-run game in the bottom of the frame. He turned on an 0-1 pitch for his 12th homer of the year. Milwaukee (51-34) halved the lead in the sixth inning. Leadoff man Scooter Gennett reached on a flare to left field and Ryan Braun drove him in with a double into the right-field corner. Estrada was pulled for southpaw sidearmer Zach Duke after giving up a walk to Encarnacion and a single to Dioner Navarro in the bottom of the seventh. Duke retired the next three Blue Jays in order to keep it a one-run game. Loup hit the lone batter he faced, putting pinch-hitter Rickie Weeks on to open the eighth. McGowan came on and got Braun to hit into a 4-6-3 double play. McGowan walked Jonathan Lucroy and then fanned Carlos Gomez with a 96 mile-per-hour heater. In the eighth, Melky Cabrera drove in a run with a triple and scored on an Encarnacion double. "We played (well) today on an important day for us to win a game -- it seems like its been a while," Gibbons said. "Its Canada Day in front of a nice crowd. You dont want to lay an egg on that day. So it was a good day for us." Hutchison allowed three hits, one earned run and walked a pair. He threw 66 of his 105 pitches for strikes. "He was our win," said Rasmus. "Everything revolves around the starting pitcher. He came in and did a good job, kept them off balance, kept the ball up in the zone and kept them swinging and missing. He did a great job." Estrada gave up six hits, two earned runs and a walk while striking out two. Notes: The game took two hours 56 minutes to play. ... Blue Jays wore their red and white jerseys for Canada Day. ... It was Torontos sixth sellout of the season. ... IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, Ont., threw out the ceremonial first pitch. ... Hockey commentator Don Cherry received a nice ovation from the crowd when he was shown on the video scoreboard in the fourth inning. ... Elian Herrera replaced Davis in left field in the seventh inning. ... The teams will close out the mini-series with another matinee on Wednesday. Left-hander J.A. Happ (7-4, 4.29) is scheduled to start against Milwaukee right-hander Wily Peralta (9-5, 3.20). ... The Blue Jays will kick off a 10-game road trip with the opener of a four-game series against Oakland on Thursday. ... Toronto leads the major leagues with 110 home runs. ... The Blue Jays are now 13-23 in Canada Day games. Cheap Nike MLB Jerseys . -- Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run homer, Colby Rasmus drove in two runs and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers 9-4 on Saturday. Nike MLB Jerseys . The government says top golfers are expected to compete in the PGA Tour event at the Ashburn Golf Club in the suburb of Fall River from July 3-6 and again next year. https://www.cheapmlbjerseysjustwholesale.com/.com) - Edmonton Oilers forward Taylor Hall left Saturdays game against the Senators in the second period with a left knee injury. Authentic MLB Jerseys . Tokarski, a somewhat controversial choice -- with his 10 games of NHL experience and all -- to replace an injured Carey Price in Game Two had a night to remember, turning back a Rangers team that was dominating play from the get-go, outshooting the Canadiens 14-4 in the first period and 37-25 overall. Nike NFL Jerseys 2020 . The mood in Seattle was electrified as the parade featuring the NFL champions began near the Space Needle and made its way to CenturyLink Field, the home of the team. At a ceremony inside the stadium, the team thanked its loyal followers -- the 12th Man -- capping a day of boisterous celebration that drew an estimated 700,000 revelers to Seattle.DENVER - This time, the Denver Nuggets didnt let the Phoenix Suns run free up and down the court.Arron Afflalo led seven Nuggets in double figures with 22 points, and Denvers defence stiffened in a 122-97 win over the Phoenix Suns on Friday night.Timofey Mozgov added 13 points as the Nuggets snapped a five-game losing streak to the Suns, who took the first of their home and home series on Wednesday after sweeping four meetings between the teams last season.Eric Bledsoe had 16 points to lead Phoenix, which had an off night shooting in the face of Denvers defensive pressure. The Suns connected on 38.8 per cent of their shots from the field after hitting 51.1 per cent in its runaway 120-112 win two nights ago.Flat out, defence was the difference, said J.J. Hickson, who had 10 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. I think we got back and made them play in the half court. We challenged a lot of their shots and we made it tough on them.Goran Dragic said the Nuggets took the Suns out of their rhythm.They were more active, Dragic said. They were more dominant in defence and offensive rebounds. Early in the game, we couldnt make a shot and they were making everything.Helped by their deep rotation and dominance on the boards (Denver outrebounded Phoenix 58-34), the Nuggets opened a 66-47 halftime lead, piling up the most points in a half by a Suns opponent this season.Leading 77-57, the Nuggets stretched their advantage tto 88-59 with 5:11 left in the third quarter behind an 11-2 run that included 3-pointers by Wilson Chandler and Afflalo.ddddddddddddDenver took a 99-70 lead into the final period.The Suns put together an 8-0 burst, capped by a dunk from Archie Goodwin to pull to 101-80 early in the fourth quarter but Denver gradually pulled away again. Danilo Gallinaris 3-pointer with 6:18 left to play put the Nuggets in front by 25 points.Defence wins games and we all know that, Gallinari said. We have to keep this formula that we have going, which is keeping teams under 100 points.The Nuggets improved to 6-0 this season when holding their opponents under 100 points.TIP INSSuns: Isaiah Thomas, the teams leading scorer, missed the game with a right ankle contusion. ... The 122 points by the Nuggets was the most by a Suns opponent this season, surpassing the 120 points Phoenix gave up to the Los Angeles Clippers on Nov. 15. ... Phoenix made eight of its 23 3-point attempts, snapping a string of four consecutive games in which it had made at least 12 3-pointers.Nuggets: Danilo Gallinari resumed his place in the Nuggets rotation after missing the second half of Wednesdays game at Phoenix with left knee soreness. ... Denver had its season high in points against Phoenix, eclipsing the 117 it had against New Orleans. ... Denver had 10 steals in a game for the fourth time this season.UP NEXTSuns: Host Orlando on Sunday.Nuggets: at Utah on Monday. ' ' '